Honey Boy

Some child actors who made their well-known career marks on the Disney Channel tend to end up going off the deep end following their steps into adulthood. Usually most of the time it's getting addicting to drugs/alcohol that affects their behavior/job prospects and going to rehab as a result. One of these stars is Shia LaBeouf, who is best known for the sitcom Even Stevens and some blockbusters such as Transformers, Disturbia, and Surf's Up during his time. He followed his own troubled path (some of which has been made infamous) as well but has been rebuilding his career with independent projects that let him experiment. This brings us to one of those new films, Honey Boy, which he wrote based on his life and was directed documentary filmmaker Alma Ha'rel in her narrative feature debut. The marketing campaign certainly intrigued me since I was part of the generation that grew up during that period when LaBeouf was making an impact on the big and small screen. I entered the auditorium ready to see what the writer is will to share about this upbringing and left it glad I checked it out.

What's it about? The narrative here follows an actor going through rehab for addiction abuse while reflecting on his troubled relationship with his father in his childhood stardom. It shifts back and forth between our protagonist in rehab and his upbringing with his dad, though most of the runtime is spent on the latter. It's pretty clear how much of Shia LaBeouf's life is being referenced with stages of his career that audiences would be familiar with but that's not the focus here. The bond between the parent and child feels therapeutic for the screenwriter as it displays that while his father had his own problems, that as a child he was rambunctious in his own right considering some of the words he would say to him. The abuse he went through isn't easy to watch but, like the rest of the film, it knows what it needs to do and gets it done as effectively as it can in its runtime.

There are some issues holding it back from feeling more complete whole as it feels weak in some aspects. The rehab section could have had one more scene or two to spend more time with his recovery struggles. The ending doesn't do a solid job in concluding well as it kinda keeps on going until it attempts a wholesome final scene. And some antics can get repetitive trying to kill off its short length.

How are the actors? The main actors to focus on here are Noah Jupe and Shia LaBeouf. Noah does solid work as a rambunctious rising star struggling against child abuse while also having an ego of his own. The bigger performance to shine the most, however, goes to Shia as his eccentric portrayal as his own dad (including some makeup). He's at his best with an abundance of crazy weird things he would say while not being shown as that villainous but rather as someone who doesn't know how to parent properly. An honorable shoutout goes to Lucas Hedges for being solid but definitely didn't have enough time to standout that much for his role.

Overall Consensus: Honey Boy is an interesting look at a stars upbringing that's bolstered by good performances and a fascinating relationship, but is hindered by the execution of its ending and a subplot. ⭑⭑⭑3/4💻 Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors. You are familiar with LaBeouf's life and want to see how it's shown here. You don't mind watching some sensitive child abuse.

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors. You are familiar with LaBeouf's life and don't want to see how it's shown here. You dislike watching child abuse on screen.