Honey Boy – 2019 – R
I did not know that Shia LaBeouf was a Disney channel child star. I did not know he starred in the first three Transformers movies. I didn’t even know Shia played Tyler in Peanut Butter Falcon and I just saw it…twice! I thought wow, whoever played Tyler in PBF and James in Honey Boy sure have the same mannerisms! Duh. I had no clue Shia LaBeouf, during a court-ordered rehab alternative to jail, wrote Honey Boy, an autobiographical screen play about a tumultuous relationship with his abusive and alcoholic dad. But, now I do and so do you. And just why are fathers and sons always such a big thing? They get Fences, Field of Dreams, It’s a Beautiful Life, Dear Zachery, Lion King, Boyhood, Frequency, Dr. Sleep and Finding Nemo, etc, etc, etc. Mothers and daughters have Lady Bird and I,Tonya, not exactly a gender draw.
“Honey Boy” is what James (Shia LeBeouf) calls his son Otis (Noah Jupe as 12-year old and Lucas Hedges as 22-year old Otis). Having LeBeouf not only write the story but then turn around and play the role of his PTSD-afflicted father added a unique theatrical and therapeutic dimension. After the film’s Sundance world premier Shia commented, “It is strange to fetishize your pain and make a product out of it and feel guilty about that. It felt very selfish. This whole thing felt very selfish. I never went into this thinking, ‘Oh, I am going to fucking help people.’ That wasn’t my goal. I was falling apart.“
The story is based at a seedy, unsavory motel in 1995 where wildly eccentric James, former rodeo clown, military veteran, registered sex offender and recovering alcoholic coaches Otis on the art of mime and slapstick. Otis learns well, adds his own comedic shtick and is on the rise as a popular child actor “hiring” James as his chaperone/agent so unemployable dad can make a living. Apparently given the flea bag hotel, surrounded by hookers and dealers, it’s not a boatload of money. When a sinister-looking water snake wriggles across the pool I seriously cringe. Mom telephones now and then, she and James shriek at each other about who’s the lamest loser parent. Otis jumps in and mediates. Otis assumes proxy parent status early on. The film jumps back and forth between young Otis and young man Otis. We witness the outrageous behavior that manic James afflicts on his adolescent son and ten years later, 2005, the ramifications on 22-year old Otis, a tortured soul, serving a court-ordered rehab stint, at first dodging, but ultimately confronting the demons of his childhood.
The acting across the board is terrific. The relationship between James and Otis develops with depth and complexity. Dad is not a monster. We learn at an AA meeting gut wrenching disclosure that James is a product of his own father’s abuse. Victim becomes victimizer. A sad, predictable cycle.The scathing criticism heaped by James on Otis is palatable to a degree, deflected by the sublime creativity and remarkable maturity of young Otis. Shia LaBeouf’s acting interpretation of his father is raw, desperate and draws an unexpected empathetic response. Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges own this film with their gutty, hard scrabble performances as survivors. Coming in at a sparing 93 minutes, Honey Boy is an intriguing, soulful, cathartic cinematic immersion. I foresee Academy nominations in its future if the Academy can look past LaBeouf’s real life antics and the film being an Amazon release. We can hope.
