“Ben is Back”

Julia Roberts is terrific as a desperate mom who does whatever she can not to give up and believe in her drug addicted son who comes home on Christmas Eve against better judgement. Ben (Lucas Hedges) is a 19 year old who deep down wants to be good and honest. He’s done some horrible things in the past after getting addicted to pain pills which led him down a bad path. He’s back for 1 night and when things start to spiral badly for his family, he tries to go out and fix things because it’s his fault. Roberts goes with him, but slowly she realizes that her kid was in deep and there really is no way to pull him back. Ben ditches her and disappears. She just wants him home safe. The story is pretty tense and you really feel and pull for these people. You would do anything for your kids, even knowing deep down they can’t be helped. Ben wants the help, but he’s done too much. I liked much of this. The performances by Roberts and Hedges are really good. My problem is the ending and I won’t spoil it, but I felt cheated. I also had a hard time with the dad, who was essentially a bit of a prick. Movies like this can be tough to sit through. It takes place at Christmas and there isn’t much Ho Ho Ho, but it’s a pretty good movie and does its job.

Rating (***)