Beautiful Boy

I had high hopes for Shawn Ku’s Beautiful Boy. The story of a married couple whose son commit’s a heinous act as he opens fire on his fellow students, killing several and wounding others, and then turning the gun on himself. I thought that this film would be a brave step into a world of unexplored topics and issues that haven’t been cross checked since Michael Moore’s Bowling For Columbine. Unfortunately Ku’s Beautiful Boy starts off strong but eventually fades into a safety zone that neither explores the more taboo subjects it could have and in turn rests on the unwinding marriage of the two parents left behind. It would have been one thing to explore a family whose existence showed no cracks or faults but Michael Sheen and Maria Bello come to us shrink wrapped in dismay. What could have been something to talk about soon turns into the norm of just another couple at odds with one another and not the controversial act surrounding their son.