by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
It can be difficult to take on deeply relevant themes in films today. There are so many heavy themes and concepts that filmmakers can take on that have so much land to cover. Many of these topics also have a deep layer of complexity that are hard to flesh out fully in a restricted period (like a two-hour film). So there is a tough tightrope to walk. Do you take on the challenging topic and risk not being able to do it justice, do you avoid making films that really challenge their audiences, or do you dive headlong into making a film that feels like a sledgehammer which may alienate audiences?
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green takes on hate crimes against young gay men… or does he?
Joe Bell tells the story of, well, Joe Bell, who walks across American to speak about bullying. The film focuses on the grief that this man must go through to process tragedy in his life. The whole film is focused on him and less on the horrors that his son had to go through. Was this the best perspective to take when it comes to these kinds of themes? Should this have really been about trials of the son who experienced the pain and suffering? That is a big question to undertake. This way may be easier to process for many straight people, but it makes you think about what the alternative film would have been like.
But does film we get deliver?
Green can still pack an emotional punch around many turns. There are a few scenes in this film that feature incredible poignancy which are driven home by the strong acting from the cast. The trailer heavily implies what tragedy strikes the young Jadin Bell, and this sequence in the film delivers powerful scenes of the aftermath. Mark Wahlberg channels some of the rawest emotion I have ever seen him deliver in a film. Connie Britton, who plays Bell’s wife, also gets to deliver in the raw emotion front. The film also features some beautiful and engrossing filmmaking. The shots are raw, and the world feels lived in. One sequence sees Jadin getting bullied terribly and the camera becomes first person. What the audience gets to experience is the fear and anxiety that Jadin experiences in that moment.
The emotions might be there in this film, but how does the storytelling match it?
This film has a strange approach to this story. First off, there is an unnecessary use of nonlinear structure which muddles the emotion. There is a unique flow to the emotional rollercoaster of the narrative, but the natural progress of those emotions feels jarred by the rearranged plot. Another strange choice was having Jadin Bell disappear from his father’s journey halfway through the film. There is a specific “reveal” that is built up to in the film… but it never feels like a reveal. Don’t we all know what happened already? Even if the film wasn’t ready to tell us explicitly, the trailer already gives it away, and this is a true story. The film also feels a lot like a movie. The characters act like movie characters for dramatic effect instead of like the actual humans they represent. There is a sequence towards the end that introduces a conveniently written sheriff (portrayed by Gary Sinise) who can tie all the themes up with a perfect little bow.
Does this film truly do justice to the memory of Jadin Bell?
Joe Bell seems more concerned with showing how others deal with his tragedy. Reid Miller, the actor who stars as Jadin, does his best to connect with the audience. He delivers incredibly well. Miller’s top-notch performance evokes all the emotion needed for the audience to empathize with him, but the film decides to focus on Wahlberg instead (with his consistently vanishing accent). This film had plenty of potential to be a truly moving and meaningful film… but it settles for emotional melodrama instead (all the way up to its seriously unexpected ending).
Grade: C