Beautiful Boy

2010 Drama

A couple struggling with the aftermath of a horrific crime must deal with their own troubles as well as the grief of others in this independent drama. Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) are a married couple who are tightly wound and devoted to their work -- Bill is a businessman, Kate proofreads books. Bill and Kate's marriage has taken a turn for the worse, and they're on the verge of breaking up when they receive shocking news -- their 18-year-old son, Sam (Kyle Gallner), a college freshman, went on a shooting spree that claimed the lives of several people before he turned his gun on himself. As the news media descends on the couple, Bill and Kate are unable to understand why Sam would do such a thing, and as they struggle to find answers, they turn to family -- Kate's brother, Eric (Alan Tudyk), and his wife, Trish (Moon Bloodgood) -- without being able to resolve the issues that were driving them apart before tragedy struck. Beautiful Boy was the first feature film from director Shawn Ku; it was an official selection at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. more..

Director: Shawn Ku

Starring: Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Alan Tudyk, Moon Bloodgood, Austin Nichols

 40 Reviews  4 Awards

Reviews

  • Beautiful Boy is the antithesis of melodrama. Painfully perceptive and relentlessly raw, this intimate observation of a couple in extremis plays out with such subdued intensity that, by the end, audiences will very likely feel as wrung out as its embattled stars.

    Jeannette Catsoulis - NPR

    29 November 2012

  • Ultimately, the effort, however rough in patches, is to be admired. We need our best minds on this subject, in all arenas, and Beautiful Boy is another jagged, early piece in a puzzle whose borders haven't formed yet.

    Michelle Orange - Movieline

    29 November 2012

  • Blazing performance will burn in your memory. Same goes for the film.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    29 November 2012

  • A film like this can end honestly in only one way, and Ku is true to it. Life will go on, one baffling day after another. There can be no release, only a gradual deadening.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    29 November 2012

  • Directing from the nonjudgmental script he wrote with Michael Armbruster, Ku's assured, unadorned documentary style allows his leads ample breathing room to inhabit their devastated characters.

    Michael Rechtshaffen - The Hollywood Reporter

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Best Film

    Giffoni Film Festival (2011)

  • Shawn Ku

    San Sebastián International Film Festival (2010)

     

  • Shawn Ku

    Tokyo International Film Festival (2010)

     

  • Discovery

    Toronto International Film Festival (2010)

Lists

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