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Ben Is Back - A Movie Review
Added: Friday, January 11th 2019 at 5:01pm by Thewritertwo
Julia Roberts is back.
Ben Is Back - A Movie Review.
It's Christmas Eve and Ben Burns (Lucas Hedges) shows up at his family's house hoping to spend Christmas with them. He swears that he is clean from drugs. Bad memories of past holiday visits leave the family not trusting his intentions and a Step-Father who knows that if Ben was Black, he would have been in jail.
Julia Roberts stars as Holly Burns a mother caught up in a quest to save and secure her son Ben. Ben Is Back is a well-rounded family movie that shows how drugs can cause a rift in a blended family as the Burns. Courtney Vance plays Neal Beeby, the Step-Father of Ben who must keep a sane mind to protect his family from the potential disruption caused by Ben's return. Unless you have a family member with addictions, it will be difficult to empathize with some of the actions taken by Holly in her quest to protect Ben. Ben's younger sister Ivy Burns played by Kathryn Newton gives us a sense of how Ben should be handled as she is the next closest to him. Ben has a special connection with the family dog and his two younger Step-Brother and Step-Sister.
Ben is Back is more Julia Roberts story than Ben. We get to hear a lot about the damaged caused by Ben from a dead friend who overdosed to drug dealers trying to get even with him. As Ben tries to clear up his past, he must find a way to protect his mother.
Ben Is Back is a movie that tests the fabric of the family as we get to hear how Ben got addicted and we got to hear from the people who bought drugs from Ben. Everyone is a victim and there is no real hope for those caught up in the dependency of drugs. Unfortunately, it is the sad state of America and a family must make a decision of letting go of hopeless loved ones, if that is even possible.
The actors are great and Julia Roberts gives it her all. I didn't find myself emotionally invested in the story possibly because I am more like the Step-Father than the mother of the story.
I give Ben Is Back 3 1/2 Stars out of 5.
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User Comments
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It is amazing to see how addiction controls the life of those trapped and the intensity of the love of the family trying to rescue them. |
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They get as sick as the addict does, sometimes sicker. |
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I was thinking that as I watched Julia Roberts and she really came across like that. Almost ruined her marriage. |
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I have to wait to see new titles until they hit Amazon or Netflix, but will keep it in mind, having loved many addicts in my day, and overcome my own addictions twice.
Still have one to eliminate, nicotine is a real bitch.