Joe Bell (film)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Joe Bell
A man wearing camping gear and his son walk on an empty road.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Written by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Antonio Pinto
Cinematography Jacques Jouffret
Edited by Mark Sanger
Production
company
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Distributed by Roadside Attractions
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • September 14, 2020 (2020-09-14) (TIFF)
  • July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) (United States)
Running time
 90 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1.4 million[2][3]

Joe Bell is a 2020 American biographical drama road film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller and Connie Britton, and follows the true story of a father and his gay son who set out to bond while walking across the country.

Joe Bell had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2020, and was released in the United States on July 23, 2021, by Roadside Attractions. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who were divided on whether it was feel-good and inspirational or reductive and contrived.

Premise

The film centers on the true story of Joe Bell (portrayed by Mark Wahlberg), a man who started to undertake a walk across the United States to raise awareness of bullying following the suicide of his son Jadin.[4]

The first half of the movie shows Joe Bell imagining that his son is with him and the second half is where it hits home that Joe is walking alone. In Colorado, Joe is questioned by a police officer (Gary Sinise) who is sympathetic to Joe's mission/cause as it is revealed that the officer's son William, is also gay. The officer takes Joe in for a night and offers him a warm meal and words of support.

Plot

In LaGrande, Oregon teenager Jadin Bell (played by Reid Miller) tells his father, Joe (Mark Wahlberg), that he is being bullied in school because he’s gay. Joe tells him that he should know how to defend himself and to let nature take its course and it will work itself out. Jadin's mother, Lola (Connie Britton), disagrees and assures Jadin that they love him. Joe and Lola let Jadin join the cheerleading squad, but Jadin recognizes his father's embarrassment. Later, Joe tells Jadin that he loves him and will try to be a better person.

Jadin is harassed by a group of jocks. At the football game, Jadin performs, but is heckled by the crowd. Joe does nothing, only taking Lola and leaving the stands. At home, Jadin receives harassment on social media. His younger brother Joseph comforts him.

Jadin is assaulted by the jocks in the locker room. He and his parents meet with a school administrator, who advises Jadin to perhaps transfer schools or go to therapy. She counsels them not to press charges, and the boys continue to harass Jadin across social media. One morning, Lola finds Jadin’s suicide note as a jogger comes across Jadin’s body, having hung himself on the football field goalpost. Distraught, Joe tells Lola he’s decided to walk across America to New York City, to raise awareness about bullying, and that he’s doing it for Jadin.

Nine months later, Joe gives a presentation about tolerance and the harmful effects of bullying at a high school. Jadin, a guide in Joe's mind, watches from the back of the auditorium. Afterward, Joe and Jadin set up a campsite along the highway to sleep for the night. Jadin criticizes him for his speech being a lie.

Joe and Jadin walk the highway in Idaho and then stop at a diner to eat. In the diner, the news on the TV mentions same-sex marriage, which receives mockery from the patrons. Despite Joe's attempts to inform the diners of his mission, Jadin tells Joe that it's won't change those men, that it's not the attendees of the lectures but people like that and their kids.

Joe tells Jadin that he was supportive of him and Jadin points out that Joe only came to one game and left during. They arrive in Salt Lake City, where Joe goes to a gay bar and meets some patrons, telling them about his walk. When asked why he didn’t bring his son, Joe tells them that his son is dead.

Lola and Joseph come to visit Joe. We also realize that Joe feels hatred against those who bullied his son Jadin. But Lola tells him to figure out if he’s walking for celebrity or walking for Jadin and if he is really walking for Jadin, Jadin will let him know when it’s time to come home. Lola leaves with Joseph and Joe continues his walk, giving speeches and talks and interviews on various news programs. Later, Lola calls Joe and tells Joe that she found an essay that Jadin wrote. She reads it to Joe, and it is all about feeling different and bullied and how badly he wants it to be over.

Sheriff Gary Westin (Gary Sinise) pulls over to investigate the man on the road, and Joe explains his story. Westin brings Joe in for a hot meal and sets up a speaking engagement at the local high school. Westin tells Joe that his son Will is gay, and they bond over their experiences. Westin tells him he didn’t consider until now that his son might have considered taking his own life, and that he doesn’t think he could have gone on if he had. Joe tells him he never let Jadin know it was okay and he has to live with that, and urges Westin not to make the same mistake.

Joe continues walking and once again sees Jadin. Joe apologizes, and Jadin tells him he always knew that Joe loved him, he was just in a lot of pain. They reconcile, and Joe calls Lola, leaving a message telling them he loves them and thanking them for putting up with him. He promises to be better about staying in touch.

One night, Westin receives an emergency call and arrives at the scene where a truck driver had fallen asleep and hit a pedestrian, Joe, instantly killing him.

Cast

Production

In April 2015, it was announced Cary Joji Fukunaga would direct the film, from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Fukunaga would produce the film, while Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker and Eva Maria Daniels would produce the film under their VisionChaos Productions and Parliament of Owls banners, respectively. A24 would produce and distribute the film.[5]

In April 2019, Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Maxwell Jenkins and Gary Sinise joined the cast of the film. Reinaldo Marcus Green would direct the film, replacing Fukunaga who was still attached as a producer, with Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhaal and Stephen Levinson serving as producers, and A24 no longer distributing and producing.[6][7][8] Principal photography began on April 15, 2019, and ended May 24, 2019.[9][10]

Release

Under the title Good Joe Bell, the film had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2020.[11] Shortly after, Solstice Studios acquired distribution rights to the film for $20 million.[12] It was scheduled to be released on February 19, 2021.[13] However, it was pulled from the schedule.[14] In May 2021, it was announced that Roadside Attractions acquired distribution rights to the film from Solstice and set it for a July 23, 2021 release, with Vertical Entertainment set to distribute the film digitally following its theatrical release.[15]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $674,000 from 1,094 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing 11th at the box office.[16]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Good Joe Bell's heartfelt message - and Reid Miller's stirring breakout performance - are unfortunately undermined by formulaic storytelling."[17] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18] Audiences surveyed by PostTrak gave the film a 79% positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.[16]

Giving it a "C", The A.V. Club's A. A. Dowd stated "The film has its heart in the right place, but its head is foggy and possibly concussed; it seems uncertain how to reshape its ripped-from-the-headlines story into satisfying drama."[19] Steve Pond of TheWrap called the film "An open-hearted, unapologetically emotional story of a man struggling to come to terms with what happened to his son and with his own complicity in it" and said "[t]here are shocks along the way, handled gently or dropped as a gut punch".[20]

Peter Debruge of Variety was more critical, calling the film a "didactic anti-bullying melodrama that feels more akin to old-school TV movies" and saying that "[a] movie like this would be a good start, if this were 1980. A decade and a half after Brokeback Mountain, however, it feels like a huge step backward."[21]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Kevin Slane, "Mark Wahlberg got ‘as thin as possible’ for new movie". Boston.com, November 22, 2019.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Instagram of Reid Miller (May 24, 2019) and Instagram of Maxwell Jenkins (May 24, 2019)
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Joe_Bell_(film)&oldid=726243232"