2019 was an excellent year for film. We had big releases such as Parasite, Uncut Gems, Knives Out, 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, and Little Women - to name just a few. Among those releases, a sort of hidden gem, sits Honey Boy. In my opinion, this was one of the best films of 2019, and it was completely snubbed in most major award circuits. The casting choices lend no explanation for this fact, considering that Honey Boy has a star-studded cast, led by Shia LaBeouf, Noah Jupe, and Lucas Hedges. Yet, despite its lack of accolades in the major critical circuit, Honey Boy is still an outstanding film and a deeply moving story, almost all of which is rooted in truth.

Honey Boy tells the story of Otis Lort at age twelve and twenty-two, with the twelve-year-old version of Otis played by Jupe, and the twenty-two year old version played by Hedges. Otis is a child-star and later proper movie star who is suffering deeply with addiction. His father, James, played by LaBeouf, is a wildly negative influence on Otis, as well as an abusive and exploitative father. Honey Boy fictionalizes the real life and childhood of LaBeouf, who dons the challenge of playing an iteration of his father in James. Twelve-year-old Otis wants nothing more than to be loved by his father, but James is almost incapable of being a proper father to Otis. He allows him to smoke and run wild, but takes every opportunity he can to belittle Otis and chop him in half. Without giving too much away, there is an emotionally charged argument in the second half of the movie that reveals James’ feelings of inferiority towards his own son, which is acted brilliantly and hits you right in the chest. Twenty-two-year-old Otis sees a different struggle: rehab, and coping with the effects that his father’s parenting left on him. It is clear that LaBeouf is working through his childhood in the screenplay, which makes for an intense and breath-taking performance from him as James. 

However, it is not just LaBeouf who delivers a breath-taking performance: both Jupe and Hedges do the same thing, as well as FKA Twigs, who makes her feature film debut here as a character simply titled “Shy Girl.”   Noah Jupe is, in my opinion, one of the greatest young actors of our generation. Despite being only fourteen when he filmed Honey Boy, Jupe delivers the performance of a seasoned Hollywood actor, bringing me to tears on more than one occasion. Every breath he takes as Otis is deliberate and measured, and every word he speaks has carefully thought out meaning. I have no doubts in my mind that, should Jupe continue a career in Hollywood, he will be wildly successful.  Lucas Hedges is excellent as well, which should come as no surprise, considering his successes in Lady Bird and Manchester by the Sea. He has a moment towards the end of the film in which he has a total breakdown, and it’s gut-wrenching and beautifully acted, and (much like Jupe) he moved me to tears in no time. Hedges is an extremely nuanced and powerhouse of an actor, and every performance from him is sure to stun, but he is especially vulnerable and lovely in Honey Boy. And FKA Twigs, despite having very little dialogue and mainly long silences, leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. At first, her relationship with young Otis seems somewhat odd, but you come to realize that the two of them are just lonely souls who are craving the friendship of another. Every performance in Honey Boy - from the smallest of side characters to the big leads - is deliberate and careful, as though each actor treats Honey Boy like a treasure to be handled carefully. In a way, I suppose it is.

Honey Boy is a triumph of a film. Alma Har’el is an excellent director, whose eye for detail is spot-on. She manages to make a story that truly has only three actors (LaBeouf, Jupe, and Hedges) at the forefront of it something that is interesting and attention-grabbing, leaving me completely enthralled - I don’t think I was bored, not even once. I cannot recommend this hidden gem enough, and I sincerely hope you find the time to watch it. From the beautiful cinematography to the excellent script, the captivating directing to the superb acting, every part of this movie shines. 

Rating: A, with a strong lean towards A+. Every aspect of this movie combines to make a beautiful experience, and I highly recommend it. Honey Boy is rated R, primarily for intense language. It is available on Amazon Prime. 

Wow, it’s Christmas, the perfect time to review a Star Wars book. Jokes aside, most of the recent Star Wars movies have been coming out around Christmas, so I’m not wrong. So, this Star Wars book touches on what happened with Obi-Wan Kenobi between episodes 3 and 4. This book brings new information about Tatooine and the galaxy that hasn’t been talked about before, which is what I would say if I haven’t seen the movies. Yeah, this book doesn’t really talk about any new lore in the Star Wars series besides how the Tuscan raiders wanted revenge for how the farmers attacked them, but then that was touched on in The Mandalorian. This may sound silly, but each Star Wars movie touches on parts of the galaxy we didn’t know about, even the holiday special introduced lore. I guess this could be due to interference from Disney not wanting someone to introduce something that doesn’t make sense in the universe, but if that happened, it would’ve at least made the book interesting. The interference could’ve happened due to one author writing a book where dead stormtroopers turn into zombies.

So about that plot I'm going to discuss, it's not very long. Despite being 430 pages I can explain the plot in one sentence: Obi-Wan takes Luke to the rest of his family and watches over him; after helping the locals with the Tuscan raiders, he goes off into the desert to hide. Sure, some parts are interesting, like when in a bar Obi-Wan fights bad guys with a lightsaber, but never mind, it's just one part. 

This book is boring; there’s just a lot of sitting around. But hey, it did do the Tuscan Raiders idea before Mandalorian, so it gets a 3/5. I’m planning to review Ready Player 2 next month, but knowing my luck the library still won’t be open, so send your suggestions to macronaldw@notredamehighschool.com.