It should not be easy for a renowned actress like Julia Roberts to be part of a new project that presents as a challenge. Changing the action record, looking different, venturing into other types of frames is the path chosen by many actresses and actors.
Some of that is in the new work by Peter Hedges, the drama film Ben Is Back. Roberts is part of a family that is in trouble with the unexpected return of her son, an opioid addict.
For Shirley Sealy (Film journal): "The Julia Roberts we think we know is not the one we get in Ben Is Back. Au contraire, in this film Ms. Roberts stretches her talents to new dramatic heights as Holly, a suburban wife and mother of four—two from each of her marriages.”
Ellen Gamerman (Wall Street Journal) provides more details by revealing that Peter Hedges himself "comes from a family that has dealt with alcohol and drug addiction and those struggles helped him to write his script."
That background was the engine of the plot for Ben Is Back. In the words of the director: "The idea was to tell the story of a family over the course of a day and try to show as many aspects of what a family facing this horrible addiction goes through".
A drama that will allow the audience to reflect on this problem. A must- see film!
