Sometimes, when producing a movie, it is based on having a great story, while at other times, it is based on having a great cast. Of course, many other factors can make or break a film, but let’s concentrate on these first two and ask a simple but essential question. What happens when you potentially have the first two, but they conflict? I believe that director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, Monsters and Men) likely faced that decision in Joe Bell. Here, he had the true story of a father walking from his hometown in Oregon to New York City to raise awareness for bullying after Jadin (Reid Miller), his openly gay 15-year-old son, committed suicide after being repeatedly tormented at school because of his sexual orientation.
So, where is the problem? The problem is its main asset, unfortunately. This heartbreaking story (in more ways than one) didn’t move me in the way that I expected. While I didn’t necessarily want to be sobbing over the loss of Jadin, I wanted to feel something more than what I felt. The potential for that to happen was there. However, Green drove us away from Jadin’s story in favor of the story of Joe Bell (Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor, Patriots Day). A movie studio will not make a Hollywood A-lister like Wahlberg plays second fiddle, regardless of the story that could be told. Wahlberg signed on to lead and showcase his story, while flashbacks primarily told Jadin’s story. Also, we needed Wahlberg’s star ability for the movie to get the wide-screen releases it sought. It felt like there was a more poignant story that was being ignored.
As a result, I wonder if Green had much choice. Likewise, he would never need to make this decision when he read the screenplay and cast the movie, but a particular problem arose. Miller’s performance of Jadin was perfect. His scenes told our story. If the script could have been altered and revolved more around his lifestyle, his choices, and his feelings, rather than what we just mainly witnessed second-handedly through Joe and his mother, Lola Connie Britton (ABC’s Nashville, NBC’s Friday Night Lights), we would have a far more memorable and affecting story rather than the run of the mill story that we were left with. But again, without Wahlberg, most of us would have never heard of Joe Bell. What we wanted and what we received were two different things. While the superb Miller mostly created this unique problem, it was hapless to change. Let me explain more.
Jadin had plenty of scenes. Not as many as Joe, but we also have to remember that this movie was told in the present tense, with Jadin’s scenes as flashbacks. In several different reviews, I’ve read that Wahlberg’s portrayal of Joe was flat and half-hearted. I disagree. Wahlberg does star in some poor movies and, on occasion, should be more selective with his choices, but he never mails it in. The character he portrayed had a limited range of emotions. I’d argue that this was one of Wahlberg’s more assertive characters, primarily because of how much he loved his son and how internally conflicted he was about his son being openly gay. There was never a doubt that Joe loved Jadin. Joe repeatedly told Jadin, as well as Jadin’s young brother Joseph, that he loved them. He would also emphasize this by saying, “You know this, right?” His boys knew, and Joe knew that they knew. However, there is more to loving your children or actively participating in their lives. Joe did both, though he was only sometimes comfortable with the latter.
There was one scene where Jadin practiced cheerleading routines for the upcoming football game. It was understood that there had been a previous conversation about this, and Jadin being the only male cheerleader on the squad was not the issue. Jadin and his friend practiced loudly in the front yard when they agreed to practice in the backyard. Joe told Jadin and his friend it was because he couldn’t hear the television. But we all knew it was because he was embarrassed that his son was practicing cheers where his neighbors could see. Yes, Joe loved Jadin very much. But he needed help understanding Jadin. He wasn’t sympathetic to the ridicule he probably knew he was receiving.
On the other hand, he did not know the pain he was going through due to the bullying. His walk across America is to raise awareness as much as it is to escape the pain and release the anger that he bears by only realizing how he should have loved his son after it was too late. He doesn’t want any other parent to have to go through the pain of losing a child, knowing that if they had behaved differently, their death might not have had to happen. As this is a made-for-audience movie, Joe meets some interesting people, including Sheriff Westin Gary Sinise (Of Mice and Men, CBS’s CSI), who spots Joe on his journey in his jurisdiction. Joe’s mission has impacted others, and for that, he’s grateful. But it has also been distancing him from Lola and Joseph.
The problem isn’t Wahlberg or Joe’s story. The problem is that it isn’t Jadin’s. There was this huge potential to have Jadin be our star and have Joe and Lola, as well as Joe’s friends, romantic interests, and foes, guide his story. We certainly could have had flashforwards to the present instead of flashbacks to Jadin’s turbulent final days. Falling into Green’s lap was this unknown actor in Miller. Miller’s portrayal of Jadin was much more than anyone could have imagined. The young man crushes his performance. Whether it be the terror when he’s about to get beat in his high school bathroom, the fear of telling his father that he’s gay, the worry that his father won’t accept him, or the ultimate sense of feeling alone when he’s reaching out to closest friends during his final moments of despair, and there is nobody there. We learned so much about Jadin when we were with him. Learning even more about his struggles and relationships with those close to him (including Joe) could have made for a much more memorable and meaningful movie experience rather than the lackluster cliche it ultimately finished as. Despite having its heart in the right place, Joe Bell, unfortunately, fails to separate itself from dime-a-dozen films about a parent unsuccessfully trying to process the loss of a child.
Plot 7.5/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing 7/10
Cinematography 7/10
Sound 7/10 (missed opportunity here)
Hook and Reel 7.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
79%
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