Ben is Back has Lessons for All of Us

Life can be sweetly peaceful in Indiana. Or in an instant, it can become very turbulent. Things can change quickly. We are so complicated, so flawed as human beings. We can be both so good and so bad, all at once.

I like to see the current movies, and I go to the local cinemas to see those I'm really interested in, or those I think would best be seen on a big screen. With that in mind, I saw Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star is Born, Mary Queen of Scots, Vice, and Black KKlansman at the theater. It's been years since I've been to the movies that often, but I think for me this was a particularly good string of films.

Others I will watch by streaming or downloading on my device, or pick up at a Redbox. A few that come to mind are The Favourite, The Wife, and Green Book. One movie had not been on my radar screen - Ben is Back. After a year of good movies, this one seemed to be hiding in the shadows. I got around to choosing it, and I was so glad I did.

I didn't know beforehand what the movie was about, and it's probably good I had no expectations. The story was written and the movie was directed by Peter Hedges, who did a good job combining suspenseful action storytelling with thorough, slow character development. One doesn't always see those two things together in the same movie. In a strange twist, the writer/director's own son is cast as the lead in the movie, reportedly at the insistence of star Julia Roberts (good call fighting for him, woman). Lucas Hedges is a brilliant actor, and I'll never forget him breaking out as the son who lost his father in Manchester by the Sea.

This story is a tale of narcotics addiction, recovery, and relapse. It's about the vicious cycle of the hold chemicals place on our brains. Many of us quickly become powerless to the substances. Our minds, our bodies crave them and the struggle becomes an all out fight for death and life with families destroyed, property stolen, bodies withered and well-being shattered. It is a tale told in every city, every small town, every barrio and every hamlet across the United States today, as we all know.

The writer did a good job with the dialogue in this film. The old 12-step recovery program, even if flawed, is one of the tried-and-true systems still working after all these years (it was started by a doctor and a businessman in Akron, OH in 1935). Lay people get to see it work on the television comedy show Mom and reality shows such as Intervention. In Ben is Back, the Serenity Prayer is used at a recovery meeting, as is the phrase "it works if you work it," meaning in part, just keep coming back.

The movie keeps one's attention - the lies told by addicts, to themselves and to others. When is Ben telling the truth and when is he not? And the enabling and lying of one's loved ones - the bargaining, the begging, excuses, rationalization. It plays out so well in this story. Julia gives a stellar performance here - perhaps her best work since Erin Brocovitch. I guess I find a little fault here in that even with her first-rate performance in this tale, I find I never really forget I'm looking at the familiar and famous JR - she doesn't totally disappear into the character. Maybe that's just my flaw, my bad.

Peter Hedges brings a reality and a special humor to this story that does seem to be a reflection of real life. For example, even as a fellow addict is trying to beat the crap out of Ben, he still takes a moment to look at Ben's mom and defer nicely: "I'm sorry, Mrs. B." She looks at him and says, "Spencer?" He says, "I go by Spider now." She says, "You look terrible!", not hiding her disgust.

The blended family is so real - the mom wonders if the breakup of her first marriage caused her son to spiral into addiction. She flagellates herself - what was it that she did wrong? But the son bluntly says it wasn't about that, he didn't need a dad - or at least, not that dad. The second husband has paid for multiple rehab sessions and had taken out a second mortgage on the house to pay for the last one. There is a mention of white and wealthy privilege - poor folks die more because rehab and health care is so expensive. There is discussion about the pharmaceutical industry and doctors, and all the political and social issues that play into the current crisis.

But somehow, nothing is as powerful as a great story, and a great storyline, well told. I haven't even mentioned Ponce the dog yet - also an important character. I won't spoil the story for you - you just need to see it for yourself. Peace be with you. Take it a day at a time.