Ben Is Back

12/7/20181h 43m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ One family. One day. ~

Overview:

19-year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns home to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben's mother, Holly, is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.

Director:

Peter Hedges

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$13,000,000.00

Revenue:

$12,616,995.00

Key words:

drug dealer
small town
drug addiction
criticism and blame
drug rehabilitation
church
family conflict
painful memories
temptation
older brother younger sister
family dog
return of son
worry
teenage son
blended family
addiction recovery
mother son relationship
stolen dog
christmas eve
past history
making amends
hopeful
one day
mother's undying love

Cast

Julia Roberts

~ as ~

Holly Burns

Lucas Hedges

~ as ~

Ben Burns

Courtney B. Vance

~ as ~

Mr. Beeby

Kathryn Newton

~ as ~

Ivy Burns

Rachel Bay Jones

~ as ~

Beth Conyers

David Zaldivar

~ as ~

Spencer 'Spider' Webbs

Alexandra Park

~ as ~

Cara K.

Michael Esper

~ as ~

Clayton

Tim Guinee

~ as ~

Phil

Myra Lucretia Taylor

~ as ~

Sally

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
6
"Ben" (Lucas Hedges) arrives at his mother's home on Christmas eve and she is delighted. "Holly" (Julia Roberts) and her daughter "Ivy" (Kathryn Newton) know that he has a problem, though. He's a drug addict and has only recently managed to go for seven days without using. A Christmas carol service and an happy Christmas beckon for all if only he can stay sober but his erstwhile dealer has other plans and using the boy's dog as bait, entices him into one last delivery that has everyone racing around before something tragic happens. It's all rather bleak, this, with neither Hedges nor Roberts really having much to work with aside from the rather depressingly presented subject matter. Perhaps this will resonate more with those who have experienced some of the traumas addiction can cause, and this story certainly has an authentic (television) look to it, but there are plenty of better put together stories of recovery (or not) out there that reach out to the uninformed and unfamiliar in a more constructive fashion - and this just rather slotted in mid-table. I like Hedges, he has something natural about him - but here they are both rather mediocre in a rather mediocre melodrama that doesn't really develop the characters or the underlying threads of the story anywhere near enough.