HONEY BOY

 “It is strange to fetishize your pain and make a product out of it… you feel guilty about that. It felt very selfish. This whole thing felt very selfish. I never went into this thinking, ‘Oh, I am going to fucking help people.’ That wasn’t my goal. I was falling apart.” – Shia LaBeouf Q&A after the Honey Boy Sundance premiere 2019.

I’ve seen a number of self-indulgent, self-serving films from “auteurs” but “Honey Boy” is NOT that at all, instead, it’s entertaining, moving, mesmerizing, heartbreaking and funny.  LaBeouf may have needed to write this story, his story as a therapeutic exercise for PTSD, but once he and Israeli documentarian Alma Har’el (narrative feature directorial debut) got together to shape his therapy into a movie, they found cinematic gold.

Otis (Noah Jupe, age 12) is a child actor, not quite at the “Macaulay Culkin” stage of his career, but he works steadily in Hollywood. His mother is in touch, but it’s unclear as to why she’s not really a part of her son’s acting ambitions. Instead, she allows Otis’s father James (Shia LaBeouf), an ex-rodeo clown, ex-con, ex-military, recovering alcoholic, full of bluster, false ego, unpredictable temper and sick jealousy of his son’s success, act as a paid guardian, to be onset with Otis and live with him in a cheap, rundown LA motel.

What struck me most about “Honey Boy” is the fact that these scenes between Otis and James take place within the span of maybe a year, probably less. You know Otis must have terrible memories or confused thoughts about his father before this age and after; however, basing the film around this specific time is authentic and significant because I think we all have a defining moment, day, period of time somewhere between the ages of 12-14 that stick with you. This moment can be huge or seemingly insignificant, as you cross over from childhood into adolescence; but it becomes the thing(s) you can’t forget, and it may still, in some ways, affect your adult behavior or perception of yourself and the world.

Intercut are scenes of Otis age 22 (Lucas Hedges) having spun completely out of control. Otis is given mandatory rehab in lieu of jail time.  While there, Dr. Moreno (Laura San Giacomo) diagnosis Otis of suffering from PTSD. We see him wrestle with this notion, resisting the treatment exercises. He’s full of inner turmoil trying to understand the toxic relationship he’s had with the father he still loves. It’s another vulnerable and deeply authentic performance from Hedges like we saw in “Boy Erased” and “Manchester by the Sea”.

There are times “Honey Boy” can be a hard watch seeing a father mentally and physically abuse his child. But somehow LaBeouf also depicts James as a character you can’t completely dislike. And Jupe is fantastic to watch! I didn’t take much note of him in “A Quiet Place” or “Ford vs Ferrari” but in this he’s a scene stealer, whether it be with Shia or softer moments found with a young woman (FKA Twigs) who also lives at the motel. And again, there’s humor, many times I laughed out loud.

If Shia LaBeouf can continue to channel his energy into thoughtful movies like this and “The Peanut Butter Falcon” (another of my favorites for 2019). His past transgressions will fall away like they did for Robert Downey, Jr., where public perception of him will be that of interesting artist and talent.

Tinsel & Tine @LAMB rating 5 outta 5