A 'Beautiful Boy' Review

from NYDailyNews
A couple come to grips with their dead son's murderous actions (1:40). R: Language, violence. At the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza.

One problem with movies dealing with the aftermath of sudden violence is that the response must necessarily be turned around, examined and fought through - the opposite, in other words, of what precipitated it. So, as in "Beautiful Boy," actors are left with too much time to play emotional symphonies, while inevitably having to hit too many required notes.

As the mother of an 18-year-old whose alienation and inner anger prompted him to go on a killing spree at a college before shooting himself, Maria Bello has the slightly less familiar role: She's defiant, defensive and angry about her son's victimhood (especially at the hands of the salacious media). Michael Sheen is her husband, kinder by nature and hoping to help heal the victims' families, while his own marriage falls apart. Both of these strong performers do what they can in a story that can't avoid awkward TV-movie moments, such as when an attempt at a normal (post-massacre) family breakfast is interrupted by a news broadcast of their son's posthumous confession tape. Yes, the TV is snapped off instantly.