Connect with us
Honey Boy film review 2019
Image: Amazon Studios

Film

Honey Boy Deconstructs Personal History in Moving Ways

Sundance 2019: Honey Boy

It’s clear from the opening moments of Honey Boy that its subject, Shia LaBeouf, lives with tremendous pain from his childhood. When his stand-in character (Lucas Hedges) is arrested and sent to rehab early in the movie, he screams and thrashes with unexpected and frightening abandon. But it’s quickly apparent that his younger life was filled with not just pain, but also fear — fear of failure, fear of violence, fear of abandonment. LaBeouf and his director, Alma Har’el, have dramatized his life in a way that makes that fear painfully immediate.

After Hedges’ run-in with law enforcement, the film settles into the flashback structure that will animate most of its runtime. Noah Jupe (of A Quiet Place fame) plays a 12-year-old LaBeouf, renamed Otis Lort. LaBeouf himself plays the boy’s father, here named James Lort. Otis is already a burgeoning child star, though most of his roles at this stage require humiliating himself (e.g., he has to take multiple pies to the face). There’s no sense of acting as a calling yet; at this point in Otis’ life, it’s just a way to make a living. His father acts as his professional chaperone (a position for which he’s paid) and the two live in a rundown motel on the outskirts of Los Angeles. James, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, vacillates (like many abusive parents) between being an overly permissive pal and a domineering, sometimes violent father figure. He forces Otis to do push-ups whenever he gives a bad line reading, then offers him cigarettes when he’s pleased.

Honey Boy
Image: Amazon Studios

Otis and James perform a tangled dance, as the son does his best to keep his distance, and the father tries to pull him ever closer. Occasionally, the film checks in with Hedges’ version of Otis as he rebels at his anger management rehab and begins to consider the damage his father (and unconcerned mother) did.

Though a strong actor, Hedges’ performance is turned up to 10, and rarely goes any lower. The majority of the film with Jupe and LaBeouf is far stronger and more compelling. LaBeouf’s performance, which seems like stunt casting on paper, is equally heartbreaking and infuriating; no one knows his father quite as he must, so perhaps it’s essential that he plays the role.

Honey Boy film review
Image: Amazon Studios

Though LaBeouf wrote the screenplay, Honey Boy is directed by Alma Har’el, who brings a delicate touch to the affair. She’s able to home in on the story’s quiet moments, a necessity when there is so much explosive acting. Har’el and her cinematographer, Natasha Braier, often bathe their images in gorgeous purple neon light. It’s visually pleasing, but also underscores the subjective nature of the film — we’re seeing LaBeouf’s version of his childhood, but a certain amount of invention and evasion is surely present.

Honey Boy might easily have become a solipsistic act of navel-gazing. Luckily, LaBeouf and Har’el have made a film that’s more than just a stunt. It’s not clear in what direction his career will travel, but LaBeouf has shown that he still has something to give.

The Sundance Film Festival runs January 24 – February 3. Visit the official website for more information.

Watch Honey Boy

Now Streaming

Written By

Brian Marks is Sordid Cinema's Lead Film Critic. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, and Ampersand. He's a graduate of USC's master's program in Specialized Arts Journalism. You can find more of his writing at InPraiseofCinema.com. Best film experience: driving halfway across the the country for a screening of Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear." Totally worth it.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Falling-Down film review Falling-Down film review

Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down Poses Some Serious Questions

Film

The Big Lebowski The Big Lebowski

25 Years Later: Aggression Will Not Stand in The Big Lebowski

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies That Did Not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers The Academy Awards: The Best Picture Losers

50 Best Movies to not Win Best Picture at the Oscars

Film

Blueback film review Blueback film review

Blueback Doesn’t Dive Deep Enough

Film

Pathaan Pathaan

Pathaan Completes the Westernization of Bollywood

Culture

The Last of Us Left Behind The Last of Us Left Behind

It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye on The Last of Us “Left Behind”

TV

The Last of Us Look for the Light The Last of Us Look for the Light

The Last of Us Season One Ends the Only Way It Knows How with “Look for the Light”

TV

Ray Liotta’s 10 best movie roles Ray Liotta’s 10 best movie roles

As He Stars in Cocaine Bear, Remembering Ray Liotta’s 10 Best Movie Roles 

Film

Brother movie review Brother movie review

Brother is a Well-acted but Overwrought Account of 1990s Scarborough

Film

CREED III review CREED III review

Creed III is a Triumphant Directorial Debut for Michael B. Jordan

Film

Inside Movie Review Inside Movie Review

Being Trapped Inside with Willem Dafoe’s Art Thief is (Mostly) Great

Film

The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars The Mandalorian Season 2 Phenomenally Flaunts The Potential of Storytelling With Star Wars

The Mandalorian Starts Season 3 with a Good Episode but an Okay Premiere in “The Apostate”

Culture

The Last of Us When We Are in Need The Last of Us When We Are in Need

Everyone’s a Monster In The Last of Us “When We Are in Need”

TV

Cocaine Bear is Over-the-Top, Ridiculous Fun 

Film

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

The Mandalorian: Grogu’s Most Adorable Moments

Culture

Connect