Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2019

If you managed to get through the whole three hours plus of the most recent Academy Awards broadcast, you did get to see Julia Roberts, albeit as a presenter (for Best Picture) rather than as a nominee, even given the fact that some in the pundit class had considered her a likely candidate for Best Actress for her work in Ben is Back. Despite some impressive performances from both Roberts and Lucas Hedges, as a mother and son struggling with their relationship in the wake of the son’s substance abuse problems, Ben is Back is a weirdly bifurcated offering that starts out as a rather penetrating analysis of one family’s trials and tribulations, but which ends up tipping over into more of a standard melodrama as things both figuratively and literally go from bad to worse. Holly Burns (Julia Roberts) is deep into Christmas preparations as the film begins, and Ben is Back quickly documents the kind of “small town vibe” during the holidays (in this case, Christmas Eve) that has been a staple of any number of films like It's a Wonderful Life. Holly isn’t about to meet a guardian angel, however, and is instead greeted by the unexpected sight of her eldest son Ben (Lucas Hedges), who shows up unannounced, something that’s especially surprising since Ben is supposed to be more or less locked up in rehab due to his ongoing “issues” with drugs. That sets up the underlying plot dynamics of the film, as Holly, Ben and the rest of a now extended family (due to a second marriage) attempt to deal with their interrelationships. That part of Ben is Back tends to resonate quite effectively, but once screenwriter and director Peter Hedges (Lucas’ father in real life) doles out a series of revelatory vignettes involving the clan, he decides introducing a more standard “drug dealing villain” is necessary to give the second half of the film more of a dramatic jolt, something some viewers may actually feel was unnecessary.

What’s at least a little surprising about Ben is Back is not just its more hyperbolic aspects in the second half of the film, but also how much it “gets away with” in its first, ostensibly quieter and more inward focused, first section. The whole setup of the film is almost impossibly corny, with an almost angelic first look at Holly, who is of course at church (framed by glowing stained glass windows) getting ready for the holiday. Later, there’s even a Christmas pageant that the entire family attends (and some of whom participate in), but what’s kind of interesting about this overt religiosity is that it’s played naturally and sympathetically (including Holly's joking admission that the family only goes to church once a year), giving a kind of believable moral compass to Holly as she navigates her troubled path with Ben. The upshot is that despite what some may feel are pretty hoary clichés in the film’s first act come across with considerable force, a testament to the performance acumen of Roberts and Hedges.

The film’s portrayal of the (blended) family dynamic, which also includes Ben’s stepfather Neal (Courtney B. Vance), sister Ivy (Kathryn Newton) and half brother Liam (Jakari Fraser) and half sister Lacey (Mia Fowler) is rather facile, and includes some great interplay that is able to quickly document long established behavior patterns. There are any number of effective if sometimes rather brief moments like nice delineations of a kind of simmering sibling rivalry involving Ivy, who seems to resent Ben for getting the lion's share of parental attention due to his problems. There's also a great early scene where an already concerned Holly walks in on Ben in his bedroom, seeing only his feet protruding on the floor behind the bed, and there's a clear if passing implication she briefly thinks he's had a relapse. Ben’s history of bad choices colors the film, especially when certain “confessions” about prior behaviors involving some supporting characters.

What I’m not really sure helps the story is a kind of over the top series of developments that brings in some of Ben’s “bad boy” colleagues from days of yore into the proceedings, with the family dog getting stolen as a sort of hostage. It suddenly turns Ben is Back into a kind of weird thriller, making a simultaneously unfolding subplot of Ben getting lured back into “using” seem somehow less effective as a result. The film probably also relies a bit too much on scenes of Holly in near hysteria as Ben disappears (in search of the dog) and she fears the worst. This whole over amped last section of the film is probably all the odder feeling since it contrasts so completely with what has been an undeniably dramatic but lower key opening section.

Kind of unbelievably, then, Ben is Back ends up really going for the hyperbolic gusto in its closing moments, with a series of events that seems designed specifically to achieve what didn’t happen — award season recognition for Roberts. She’s undeniably moving, even if one has to wonder if some “tear wrangler” was just off screen shooting water onto her cheeks (yes, that’s a joke), but the whole kind of overly indulgent feeling that the film has already been exploiting may simply strike some as pure manipulation as the film comes to a close.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was somewhat less impressed with Ben is Back than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ben is Back is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The closing credits offer an "Arri camera and rentals" logo without specifying a model, and the IMDb doesn't offer any data (including the resolution of the DI, which I'm once again assuming was finished at 2K). That said, this is a film filled with cool blue wintry tones which are often quite effectively utilized, and which can provide often surprising amounts of fine detail. Aside from the kind of blanched December lighting, the film doesn't appear to have been overly aggressively graded in any major way, and the palette, while not especially eye popping, looks natural and nicely suffused. There are a couple of nighttime sequences where shadow detail can look a tad murky, but even here there is precise resolution of things like the fabrics on some of the layers of winter clothing the characters wear, at least when close-ups are employed. I noticed a brief flirtation of banding once again on the first Lionsgate masthead, but nothing of any consequence during the film presentation itself.

Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the visual element, Ben is Back's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track isn't overtly "showy" in any real sense, though there is consistent if subtle surround activity courtesy of both Dickon Hinchcliffe's score and some admittedly "mundane" elements like the background sound of kids frolicking around (and outside of) the family home. Most of the film plays out in smaller scale dialogue scenes, where ambient environmental sounds can occasionally dot the premises, even if immersion isn't incredibly notable. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there are no problems of any kind to report.

Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Peter Hedges


• Ben is Back Image Gallery (1080p; 2:14)
• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 3:40)

Ben Is Back Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot of incredibly "real" feeling family material in the early going in Ben is Back, which makes it all the more questionable as to why Peter Hedges felt the need to tip into such a hyperbolic, melodramatic aspect as the story continued. Performances here really help to elide any of the narrative hurdles, though, and both Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges are excellent, helping to bring some heartfelt (if at times manipulative feeling) emotion to the film. Technical merits are solid, and with caveats noted, Ben is Back comes Recommended.