Beautiful Boy

Michael Sheen and Maria Bello star as Bill and Kate - a married couple already on the verge of splitting up, when a horrible tragedy strikes. Their 18-year old loner son, Sammy (Kyle Gallner), goes on a shooting rampage at college killing many students and himself in the process. Now, Bill and Kate aren't sure what to do next.

Beautiful Boy is a movie to watch if you love acting, but you don't get much else out of it. Writer/director Shawn Ku and co-writer Michael Armbruster deliver a simple story with many of the twists and turns you can predict no matter how novel the premise as Bill and Kate struggle to find a reason why their son committed such a shocking act, they attempt to deal with the questions of friends and media, and the two try to figure out what the next step in life might be.

However, Sheen and Bello put on an acting master class. While the story is not surprising, the way these two react to it is shocking and complex. Sheen is able to show the attempts by Bill to carry on, take care of business, and handle everything like some Gary Cooper silent man focused on the tasks at hand, but his ultimate unraveling is some of the best acting you will see all year long. Then, Bello finds an amazing mix of anger, pain, doubt, and denial.

Beautiful Boy won't be remembered at Oscar time, but it would be nice to see Sheen and Bello get some recognition.

Beautiful Boy is rated R for some language and a scene of sexuality