The Review: Honey Boy

Honey Boy 9/10

This was one hell of a movie. Honey Boy is something I had heard about but never really had any interest in watching. I didn't know the cast or anything really except for one of the stars. I watched it with CK tonight and as always every year if I had seen this before I wrote my Best Movies Of The Year this definitely would have made the cut. This movie was beautifully shot. Had an incredible story (which I didn't know was true) and some of the best acting I've seen. Seriously, CK had to tell me that this was based off of a true story and life after I gasped while seeing photos during the credits and shouting “That was real?!” There are some true stories so insane that they can't be real. This one was. It goes back and forth through time so I'm not gonna be recapping this entire film the way I do with others.

It starts on a movie set in 2005 with this guy named Otis performing in films. He ends up crashing his car and getting into it with cops and arrested. He is told to go to a rehab or prison. She tells Otis from what she knows that he has PTSD and he laughs it off denying it. She tells him that he needs to write about his past to see what could have happened. He so does not want to do this. Flashback to 1995 and he is a child actor on a set with his ultra overbearing father James. His dad reminded me way too much of mine during certain scenes where you didn't know what would set him off. Otis seems to know this but when he is upset would push his buttons anyway. They live in a hotel that is seedy as hell. Picture a seedy hotel. There. That's it. His dad used to work as a rodeo clown and seems to have some jealousy towards his son who is in reality his boss and the supplier of any money they get.

His father James is not exactly trying to get his life together. During a super uncomfortable scene James refuses to speak to his sons mother and has his son repeat what she says and she goes on to reveal that she had to escape a moving car to avoid being raped by him. Yeah. James is also a felon. He is jealous of a man named Tom that hangs with Otis for a Big Brother program. It leads to a terrible ass barbecue invite and someone ends up assaulted and tossed in the pool. James tries very hard, like, way too hard to get people to like him. Like the local prostitute who ends up befriending Otis. They have a scene together that I won't go into but it went from sweet, to creepy, to sweet, to ohmygodpleasedontletthishappen, to “Fuccccccuk...” within a matter of seconds. No words were spoken during this scene and it blew my mind.

There is far more to this movie but I'm not gonna get into all of it. This is one of those movies where people say so much without speaking. Watching the interaction between Otis and his father made me so uncomfortable because it reminded me so much of when parents try to be more of a friend to their child than a parent so when their kid treats them like a peer in public it is not a good look. The jealousy and resentment James had towards his son was palpable. CK says she hoped the kid got therapy after this. I watched an interview with the cast and its all good. I should also note that the character of James and Otis is based off of the upbringing of the star Shia LaBeouf and his father and he wrote about his life in 2017 while in rehab, this was filmed in 2018 for three weeks, and released last year. Watch an interview with Shia now. Dude is doing much better. Check this movie out if you get the chance. It really is good.

Shia LaBeouf as James Lort

Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe as Otis Lort

FKA Twigs as Shy Girl

Maika Monroe as Sandra

Natasha Lyonne as Mom

Martin Starr as Alec

Byron Bowers as Percy

Laura San Giacomo as Dr. Moreno

Clifton Collins Jr. as Tom

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