Ben Is Back 2018

     Ben Burns is nineteen years old, he has been away at rehab because he’s a drug addict.  He returns home unexpectedly on Christmas Eve.  Holly Burns is Ben’s mother and she is very wary about Ben coming home unannounced.  Holly’s husband Neal is not Ben’s father but he’s worried too.  Holly has a daughter Ivy and she is younger than her brother Ben.  She also has another boy and girl, Lacey and Laim, two children from her marriage to Neal.  The family goes to a Christmas program together and when they get home, their dog Pip is gone and someone broke into the house.  The Christmas tree is turned over and glass in the front door is broken.

     I thought the setting of this film was in New York because of the snow.  Christmas is usually a hectic and emotional time.  There are many things to get done and high expectations.  For Ben, coming home creates tension and he sees people he used to do drugs with too.  Many families across the world are facing drug addiction amidst their family and if not among family members, then friends or co-workers.   Some drug companies are being sued by states because doctors are prescribing additive substances for pain but prolonged use can make the pain worse and cause dependence.  There are withdrawal symptoms and they make it difficult to stop taking the medication.  Once the medicine interferes with daily life, the patient is an addict.  Discontinuing the drug is the first part of treatment and other drugs such as methadone can help with withdrawal plus inpatient or support programs.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

103 min, Drama directed by Peter Hedges with Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar, Alexandra Park, Michael Esper, Tim Guinee, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Kristen Griffith, Jack Davidson, Mia Fowler, Jakari Fraser.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes, 82% critic 69% audience, Roger Ebert 3*, Empire Online #8 out of 5* Liz Beardsworth, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Simran Hans, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 39 critics 6.7 out of 10 with 38 user scores (24 positive, 11 mixed, 3 negative), Independent 4* out of 5* Geoffrey Macnab, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 235 reviews. 

Special Note:  Filmed in New City, Yonkers, Larchmont, Garnerville, Haverstraw and Sloatsburg, New York.  Lucas Hedges in the role of Ben is the son of Director Peter Hedges.  Peter had not intended to cast his son in the role and he had a shortlist of actors he was considering.  Julia Roberts saw Lucas in the film Manchester by the Sea 2016 and she believed he was right for the role.  Prior to shooting, Lucas and Kathryn Newton spent Thanksgiving holiday as guest at Julia’s home.  She also entertained 22 other guests around the dinner table.  Lucas and Kathryn co-starred together in Lady Bird 2017 and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2017.  Production during Christmas Eve caused the team to face harsh weather conditions.  There was a cyclonic snowstorm that paralyzed all roads in New York and Yonkers.  Roberts has lived in New York for eighteen years and she said she has never experienced a winter on the East Coast equivalent to this winter!!  There were two films in 2018 about drug-addicted children, this film and Beautiful Boy with Timothee Chalamet.  Hedges and Chalament worked together on Lady Bird 2017.