User reviews

Ben Is Back follows a story of a young addict returning home for holidays by putting the lives of his family members and those who he had affected as an addict dramatically changes within 24 hours. A triumphal performance of Julia Roberts as the mother, who is fighting for salvation of her child, is probably one of the best of her career. Lucas Hedges, who plays Ben, also son of the director Peter Hedges, is on a phenomenal rise, appearing in not one but two Oscar-worthy performances this year, proving that Hollywood can still hold on the line with decent young actors such as Hedges as old talents slowly fade out. A passionate project that is ambitious, raw and tender, centered on the redemption addicts can get from their family.

So, Lucas Hedges is having quite a year. A bully in Mid 90s, a gay teen who must endure conversion therapy in Boy Erased. And now in Ben is Back he is a recovering addict whose opioid addiction has caused major problems between him and his family. Directed by Peter Hedges, who also happens to be Lucas' father, this is a simple but effective film that deals with a crisis that many parents have to face. This one quietly arrived in theaters but its one to watch.

The film is about Ben, who recently returns home having been sober for 77 days. His mom wants to give him the benefit of the doubt although she is weary about whether he is using or not. Ben soon realizes that his old ways catch up to him and it causes a danger to his family. Ben tries to wrong the rights and fight off the temptation of the past, and his mom (played by Julia Roberts) strives to remain at his side to make sure that she doesn't lose her son.

I like the recent waves of films that are covering drug addiction. Working in that counseling field I see it daily and see what a problem it is. You can never be clear of your demons and relapse is a normality. I think Lucas Hedges has one of his strongest performances yet, not that that's a surprise because he's good in everything. Best Julia Roberts performance in a while as well, at least for me. Its a simple plot and takes place over the course of a day or so but its a deep story that engulfs you from the opening scene.

I don't know if this is going to get award season love but I'd like for it to get nominated for its original screenplay and some acting plaudits. Its easily identifiable, and the characters are strong and driven, a testament to the actors who commit to the performances. Wouldn't have minded this thing being 10-20 minutes longer because not a minute is wasted here.

7.5/10

Writer/director Peter Hedges did a better job on his 4th directorial film than he did with his story. The 103 min length was decent, but the pacing felt really slow and lacked any luster or peaks in its screenplay. The message was strong and powerful, but I think it was under-emphasized and too typical to get a powerful message across, well, powerfully. The casting was great and all performances were very convincing. This film is certainly a must see to open the eyes of society on how addition can destroy many lives, not just the person addicted. Would I recommend it? Yes. Would I see it again? No, it lacked that luster and oomph for me to want to see it again. It's a 7/10 from me.

This movie chronicles 24 hours in the life of a family after the oldest son comes home from rehab one Christmas eve.

The first part of the movie is good in it's illustration of the chaos and disruption drug addiction has on a family when one of their own is addicted.

The story starts out strong but delves in to unbelievable scenarios such as when the addict son goes after the drug dealer after a break in and theft of the family pet.

Good acting by both Julie Roberts and Lucas Hedges.

In the many treatments of troubled young men this year (Boy Erased, Beautiful Boy, Burning, to name ones I'm aware of), Ben is Back is the most affecting. Ben (Lucas Hedges) has bolted from his rehab clinic to spend time with his loving family. Although the film devolves into a quasi-thriller, the first half or so depicts with alarming clarity what it means to have a heroin addict in the house, even for a day. It's hell.

His Mom, Holly (Julia Roberts), is the one most acutely aware about hiding anything that her son might use to get off the wagon. Holly is one of the strong women characters for this year, reminding that Roberts has the chops to pull of a heavily dramatic role, as she did in Erin Brockovich and August: Osage County. Hedges, like Roberts, gives a performance of his much shorter lifetime.

The household stress is shifted when Ben's pet dog is stolen for ransom to lure him back into the dealer game. Director Peter Hedges (father of Lucas) has mom and son searching for the dog but also for a connection that can erase Ben's addiction. Finding the dog is the action to make the film come alive and to show the audience the scary world of drug dealers.

By moving the action to the search outside the home, Hedges has lost the demanding drama of family adjustment including the teen sister, Ivy (Kathryn Newton), the two younger siblings, and the tough-love Dad, Neal (Courtney B. Vance). The world of dealers we have seen before, but such a slice of upper-middle class turmoil has been too infrequently portrayed. Even Beautiful Boy didn't involve the audience as much as Ben is Back does.

By adding the dealer turn of the screw, Hedges has revealed the convoluted and pain-giving world of addiction, now planted firmly in homelife, where even the streets must compete for tragedy and despair. Although Ben is Back has formulaic elements and an unfortunate clustering with other young-men lost films this year, it stands alone in revealing the horror addiction unleashes at home

A realistic movie about how drugs destroy not only one's life, but also of those close to them.

It's a struggle that requires unquestioned devotion, support, and love. And it's a long and windy road.

Julia Roberts plays the mother role with great precision and feeling, and is the star of this movie.

"Ben Is Back" (2018 release; 103 min.) brings the story of Ben and his family. As the movie opens, it is Christmas Eve and Holly is watching her kids at their church choir practice. Upon returning home, Holly is stunned to see her son Ben waiting for them. It turns out Ben has been in rehab, but left the rehab place so as to spend Christmas with his family. Holly's teenage daughter (and Ben's sister) Ivy thinks this is a huge mistake. "This time it will be different', Holly tells her. When Holly's husband (and Ben's stepdad) Neal comes home, he insists that Ben must return to his rehab. After arguing, Holly and Neal compromise: Ben can stay for 24 hrs. but Holly will be with him every waking second... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director Peter Hedges ("The Odd Life of Timothy Green"). Here he delves into a topic that is getting much attention these days: a parent dealing with their son's addiction. The entire movie plays out over that 24 hrs. period that Ben shows up out of the blue. The big news is of course that Hedges cast his (Oscar-nominated) son Lucas Hedges as the addict. This is the 3rd movie in a span of 2 months I've seen starring Lucas Hedges: "Mid90s", "Boy Erased" and now this. He truly is one of the up-and-coming talents in Hollywood. But even better is Julia Roberts as his mom Holly. She perfectly conveys the sense of terror and desperation as she tries to keep control of the situation. "We can't save them, but you'll hate yourself if you don't try", comments a woman who lost her daughter to addiction. Which leads me to that other recent movie about the very same topic, albeit brought in a dramatically different way: "Beautiful Boy", starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet. When comparing these two films, the shortfalls of "Ben Is Back" become evident very quickly, in particular in the movie's last 45 min. when there are questionable plot holes the size of Manhattan for no apparent reason. In the end, "Ben Is Back" still is worth checking out for the strong performances of Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges. Kathryn Newton (as Ben's sister Ivy) also does quite well. But let's be clear: "Beautiful Boy" is the better movie.

"Ben Is Back" premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival to good acclaim. It finally opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (6 people, including myself). I honestly can't see this playing in theaters very long. For that the movie is too downbeat, even more so considering that we are in the Christmas-New Year's holidays. Maybe this will find a wider audience once it expands onto other platforms (and away from the year-end holidays). Either way, I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Ben is Back has been directed really well. All actors have done an excellent job. I always felt that movies can't do what books do to me, but this movie proved an exception. I felt all shaky with emotion at the end of it. I really really hope that everyone suffering from addiction gets help just like Ben. Please, may everyone find real peace and happiness.

The entire family of this movie is involved in the big problem of drugs and they fight to jump out from it, trying to help their son Ben to detoxify himself. But it is not easy and a Christmas with the family can bring him back, creating also some critical and dangerous situations to all the family. However, her mother never leaves him alone and they always fight together. It is a strong movie, very touching in some moments, so I liked it. It showes how drugs can change not only your life, but also the life of all the people near you. It makes think and know better this problem.

Peter Hedges's "Ben Is Back" is what one might call a Christmas-adjacent movie: it takes place around Christmas but the plot doesn't relate to Christmas. In this case, a woman in a stable family goes home and finds that her son is there after having been in drug treatment. This opens the door to a series of unpleasant events.

Julia Roberts spent much of the 1990s in romantic comedies. This movie is nothing like those. It's got to be one of the grittiest movies of 2018. There were scenes that made me feel as if I was on pins and needles. It's far from the year's greatest movie, but the roughness alone makes it worth seeing.

In the end, the movie's message seems to be that parents must love their children, no matter how low the latter sink. At the very least, they should make an effort to do so. I hope that Hedges keeps turning out movies like this one.

A parent dealing with their child and substance abuse, but Roberts and Lucas were the only two that were needed to make this story work. As a former cocaine user (thirty years clean now thank God) The story was OK. Nothing to write home about because I've seen much better films on the topic of drug addiction and substance abuse. I myself am a living witness on how drugs destroy lives and breaks a mother's heart. Overall a decent watch.

My wife and I watched this movie at home, on BluRay from our public library.

Being quite old, I have had the pleasure of watching Julia Roberts "grow up" on screen, in roles that have evolved from romantic fluff to hard core mother of a troubled and addicted son. In this role is superb, she makes the story and dangers feel very real.

Her son Ben has been in a rehab facility for his drug addiction, right before Christmas in a New York community he shows up unexpectedly. He explains that he has been doing so well that his counselor told him he could go. We soon find out that wasn't true and Ben was far from weaned from his destructive habits. What ensues also involves some of the dealers and customers he had business with before, and the mother of a young girl who died with him.

It is a timely movie, with the widespread issues with addictive drug use. It is often difficult to watch but tells a worthwhile story.

This was a very emotional film. As someone who loves someone with an addiction, I empathized with Julia Roberts's character. My heart broke as I saw Ben battle with trying to make healthy choices and being tempted by his past. The story was painfully beautiful, and I encourage others to watch it.

Touching, entertaining, and sad. This movie is well done but feels just a hair unfinished. The actors are great

Ben is Back is certainly not light entertainment but thanks to some solid direction from its director Peter Hedges and great lead turns from Julia Roberts and the increasingly impressive Lucas Hedges, this 24-hour tale of the life of recovering teenage drug addict Ben Burns and his return home on Christmas Eve is one worth seeking out.

At times leaning towards the slightly unbelievable and sometimes Hollywood cliche side of things, Back mostly remains on the right side of the ledger thanks to Roberts and Hedges and some solid doco-like directing that keeps things firmly moving in the right direction, as we are embedded with the Burns crew (namely Ben and Holly) as they work together to overcome a serious of issues they are facing as well as a quest they are on to find their stolen family dog.

It's an interesting concept and one not usually associated with the drug-addict sub-genre, a 24-hour like plot-line but it adds an underlying tension to Back which forgoes any flashbacks or character grounding scenes to instead let the story be played out in almost a real time manner as we slowly begin to understand past indiscretions and occurrences that have led the son and daughter combo of Ben and Holly to where they sit when we meet them on Christmas Eve.

In this duo we have a great double bill of Roberts and Hedges who very early on establish a great chemistry on screen that reverberates through the entire picture.

Sometimes prone to overacting or "awards" baiting moments, Roberts strips it right back as the powerful yet emotionally charged Holly in what's her best performance in years while Lucas Hedges on the back of supporting turns in the likes of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Mid90's and Lady Bird here further establishes himself as one of the best younger talents working today, making Ben a flawed, likable and totally believable creation.

These two performers go a long way to making the most of the films confronting nature, this really is a no-holds bar examination of drug addiction as we learn of what became of Ben and what lengths he went to in the past to fuel his unhealthy habit and its commendable that Back never shy's away from the intense nature of drug affected lives and what it does to families and friends, making this tale of love and family a highly watchable one even if it at times stretches the credibility meter ever so slightly.

Final Say -

Anchored by two great lead performances and an intriguing 24-hour narrative arc, Ben is Back is a solid Hollywood examination of drug addiction that doesn't shy away from the gritty reality of its subject matter. Not always easy viewing, Ben is Back is well worth checking out in the right frame of mind.

3 ½ awkward mall encounters out of 5

A drug addict who should be at rehab comes home for Christmas. His mom keeps watch on him. There are some interesting situations that keep this different. Liked the part she told off the doctor for getting her son hooked on painkillers. Not many movies about mother son bonding so it's interesting.

Lucas Hedges is the actor of choice for troubled youth and he doesn't disappoint. Julia Roberts is pretty here and looks younger than recent movies. She is quite moving as the mom trying to help her son fight addiction. The family involvement is also touching. Worth a watch.

From the film the boy Hedge is doing things very well and although his role is quite interesting and is one of the strongest points of this story, who is more rewarding is Julia Roberts, who delivers her best performance since August: Osage County and she reminds you that she can still act quite well and honestly it's good to see her like that again.

Lucas Hedges continues to impress me with his performances (the church scene was a real heartbreaker), but Julia Roberts really blew me away as the carrying mother who will do anything to protect her son.

Ben is back was okay. From an acting standpoint it was outstanding, but I it was just a so-so movie to watch. It seemed like it took a long time to get to the point...and I'm trying to figure out what the point was. It was a film about addiction and how Ben was floundering back and forth on his recovery. I think he came home to right some of his past wrongs - even though he wasn't ready to see all of the people from his past drug days. He accomplished some of his goals for his return trip home (with his mother in tow due to her insistence). The ending sort of left you dangling. There was a glimmer of hope, but I would have rather had some type of resolution after having invested almost 2 hours watching it. I know real life isn't that way...but this was a movie and it would have been nice to have a feeling like you knew what happened to all of them.

Ben is Back was a remarkably touching movie so close to the heart. A highly underrated movie with Julia Roberts proving yet again the essence of acting. How could this movie or at least Julia Roberts not be an Oscar Winner, or even more so, how does Rami Malek (his performance not even close to Freddie Mercury...) and as for Lady Gaga - REALLY!!!

Lucas Hedges was good but just didn't dazzle me in any way. Julia gives so much and his subtlety - or blandness - left me wanting more. Would have loved to have seen someone new with more edge essay the role.