EL SEGUNDO HERALD November 7, 2019 Page 5
By Ryan Rojas for cinemacy.com
As the movie portrays in its very meta
way, Honey Boy started as a therapeutic tool
when Shia LaBeouf was in rehab for alcohol
abuse. As an artist so taken by post-modern
art performance, how else would that person,
who spent his entire life at the center of the
entertainment industry, channel his pain but by
confronting his issues in the form of writing
a screenplay about his life story? And yet,
there’s no hiding what’s in his head in any
Honey Boy, Courtesy of Amazon
way, whether it be metaphorically or literally
with a paper bag. Here, Shia LaBeouf
makes himself so vulnerable in exposing
this open wound and tender flesh. Along
with Alma Har’el’s dreamy direction (as
she also grew up with an alcoholic father),
Honey Boy, opening at ArcLight Hollywood
and The Landmark this Friday, is a fascinating
experience.
Honey Boy chronicles two moments in
the life of this Shia-surrogate, Otis: there’s
the child star Otis (Noah Jupe) and the
young adult action star Otis (Lucas Hedges).
The older Otis is who the story opens with,
seeing him getting slammed, dragged, pushed
and altogether exhausted by action stunts
that are a part of his daily life (“trauma
reminders,” as a therapist later classifies).
One must remember the physical and psychological
toll that this line of work would
have on any person, let alone on someone
who has done it for a decade straight --
along with having a scarred family history
of substance abuse. The combination inevitably
lands Otis in rehab and it’s here, through
therapeutic sessions with his probation officer,
that he is forced to remember his childhood.
Young Otis, whom we first encounter
as he is harness-strapped in the middle of
an action stunt, is the lead on a children’s
television show. But this success doesn’t
extend to his personal life, where he is raised
by an erratic father (Shia LaBeouf), whose
mile-a-minute mouth is either teasing, goofing
or berating his son in the close quarters
of the extended-stay motel where they live.
Entertainment
As young Otis, Noah Jupe is put into very
adult situations –- including drugs, booze
and older women –- but Jupe maintains a
strength and innocence throughout the film
that makes it a solid and moving performance.
Lucas Hedges channels everything
from the screenwriter’s manic instability to
his trademark combat boots.
Portraying Otis’ former rodeo clown father
James, Shia embodies the character so
thoroughly that it’s more than just pretending
–- he’s channeling something real in
himself, and it’s his most lived-in and best
role in a while. What lifts Honey Boy to even
greater heights is how the film integrates the
vaudeville choreography of James’ rodeo
clown life. Though in some scenes it may
appear hokey, there are parts set to music
to create magically mimed moments. Har’el
captures this and all of the scenes between
young Otis and his father so intimately.
But it’s LaBeouf who gives himself over
so completely to this emotionally gutting
process, putting his singularly pained childhood
onto the big screen in what feels like
an attempt for emotional salvation. Honey
Boy is so raw and risk-taking that it provides
a similar and personal experience for anyone
who sees it. •
Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
The Jewelry Source
337 Main St. El Segundo. 310-322-7110
www.jewelrysourceUSA.com
©2007
Because she’s a gift,
not a given
Film Review
A Child Star Confronts a Traumatic
Upbringing in Honey Boy Reviewed by Desiree De La Cruz-Miller,
Library Assistant
October has been an exciting month at the
El Segundo Public Library. The Teen Zone,
in particular, has expanded its collection of
books and with the fun, colorful, new furniture,
we have had an increase in the high school
teen presence and that warms our hearts. For
this week’s review, I picked a book fresh
off the delivery truck titled Waiting for Fitz
by Spencer Hyde. It is always fun to be the
first person to check out a new book. It
makes me giddy.
Waiting for Fitz touches on the difficulties
of dealing with mental illness. Addie,
the protagonist, is dealing with severe OCD
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and enters
a behavioral health system for teenagers. She
genuinely wants to get to a better place in
dealing with her illness, but doesn’t quite
take the doctors seriously. This causes her
to not be fully committed to the treatment
plan they have set for her. While in the
hospital, she befriends a few other teenagers
dealing with varying mental health issues.
One boy in particular she takes a liking to
is Fitzgerald Whitman IV, or Fitz. Fitz has
been in the hospital for two years now and
is being treated for schizophrenia. Addie
feels a sense of acceptance with Fitz. He
notices her ticks and obsessive compulsions,
but accepts that they are part of her. The
feeling of acceptance means a lot to her
considering that she felt the need to hide
her ticks and obsessive compulsions from
her friends at school.
While in the hospital, Addie must continue
with her studies to keep on track with finishing
high school. One of her assignments that
she obsesses about throughout the book is a
written assignment about the play, Waiting
for Godot. In this play, two men are seen
waiting for someone or something called
Godot. By the end, Godot never shows up.
She enjoyed reading it, but struggles to answer
the questions required in her essay: what are
the men waiting for and why is it significant
that Godot never shows up? These questions
keep her up for hours as she searches her
mind trying to figure out why the men would
wait so long for someone or something that
never appears. As she experiences these new
feelings of love for Fitz, she searches her
soul and finds the answer as to why the men
waited because she, too, is waiting for Fitz.
Come on in and visit us at the El Segundo
Public Library and take a look at our revamped
Teen Zone area. We have numerous
new titles added to our collection available
now to be checked out. Be the first person
to check out one of our new titles. •
Check It Out
Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
Desiree De La Cruz-Miller
“In film, we sculpt time, we sculpt
behaviour and we sculpt light.”
– David Fincher
Ryan Rojas.
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