Threre are actually two concurrently running lines of the story, one being that of a Hollywood actor (Lucas Hedges) being forced into rehab after a drunk driving incident, that is fine but a relatively standard depiction of such a tale. What is far more interesting is the tale that provides the motivation for that framing device, featuring the man that wrote this story, and who this is about, despite the use of the name Lort, in LaBeouf. LaBeouf is an actor, who I'll admit I was not taken with for a long time. This as he had about four phases as a performer, quite a lot for a man who is only in his early 30's. He began as a more than decent child actor of whom many took notice. He then segued into leading pseudo adult roles, where it felt like Hollywood was forcing him upon us as a new star. This was rejected by many, myself included, and found his screen presence became rather tiresome in this period. He then segued again to a period that had less to do with film, and seemed more built around creating controversy for his performance art pieces or plagiarized artistic attempts. This was not a great period, though thankfully he eventually segued away again to what now seems to be his current period as trying to embrace... well just acting. Strangely enough this started at the tail end of that nonsense with his devoted work in Fury, but expanded as he began seeming to focus on the roles, rather than a whole lot of nonsense. The reasons for these rather extreme shifts however are perhaps revealed by himself here in one of the most personal projects one could imagine, as he not only wrote it about himself, but also focused on a particularly harrowing aspect of his life.
LaBeouf being so convincing in his realization of James, against Jupe, who is equally genuine in his role, creates something very special in the film through their interactions. LaBeouf is fascinating here in that he manages to be magnetic, strangely in a way as I never felt he was in his traditional leading turn, in creating the public charm of James. LaBeouf manages to balance this certain sense of a southern style hospitality in his outgoing demeanor, that always borders on crude, but LaBeouf wields it in James as a true showman of another sort. A showman that LaBeouf is honestly pretty amazing in depicting these moments, as not disingenuous, as James does want to charm those he makes his bad jokes to, but within it there is this underlying desperation about it. A desperation not that the jokes are desperate, but rather this palatable need of the man to attempt to capture an audience. This plays so well against Jupe's work where we see the young man who gets the audience seemingly by being so gently charming to those around him. There's no desperation just a sort of joy towards performance of the child movie/tv star, against the rodeo clown that is James, who would've killed for that same adoration. That need is truly felt within every single one of these moments of LaBeouf's portrayal that creates such a piercing state, that makes it that even when James is being charming there is something unnerving within that.
This is as we quickly see that James isn't much of a father and here LaBeouf is brilliant in portraying the very off-putting abuse that Otis suffers at his hand. This is as LaBeouf avoids the easy tropes of a one note monster, or even the monster behind the face. There is a reprehensible ease that LaBeouf delivers to his random cruel words to his son. This with a sort of pompous attitude within each a purposeful put down . The ease of it, and the natural qualities of it make it particularly unnerving, since it is merely the state of James to be so. Jupe is heartbreaking in these moments because he is also so naturally attuned into each scene. This in portraying just the pain of the random insults into his face, that are these subtle bits of heartbreak in the boy as the jealous father lashes out at him. The cruelty is pervasive within LaBeouf's performance because of how human he makes it in every scene. This as early on as he demands to know about Otis's "big brother" who takes him to baseball games, LaBeouf brings again that desperation in the questions. It is cruel, but in each word he shows the vulnerability in the man in each word. His eyes swell with a disappointment in one's self to really not be a father, even as his words pester with such an intensity of manipulation. Jupe offers a moving counterpart, as even in the cruelty, his face is that of a boy hoping to please his father, and always quietly scared of him.
Honestly, I remain most impressed by LaBeouf's work because so much of it seemingly shouldn't work, and could've easily devolved into a lot of posturing, however he is so cued into the role, everything he does. This in his creating the sense of a man who basically is always within his own breakdown, the problem is, unlike his son of the future, the man is constantly breaking down just right in front of us. This is even as even when LaBeouf delivers these seemingly more amiable rambles, that he does so effortlessly by making them so genuine to basically a con man of sorts, there is still a sense as though he is about to fall apart. LaBeouf makes every word an attack, whether quietly or loudly, yet more than anything is incredible in making this such a mess of a man overflowing with negatives, that he funnels them in this most unfortunate form of an extroversion. This as even in brief scenes of his clown act, or trying to get a young woman to come hither through magic trick, it is as this act of strange agony even as supposed entertainment. LaBeouf legitimately creates the sense of an unpredictability about the man. When he meets his "big brother" (Clifton Collins Jr), Labeouf's shifts on a dime are sublimely performed, as his initial false words of appreciation become more and more hostile. This in just slowly finding this aggressiveness that just reveals itself so naturally. As hateful as it is, it is just as much this act of man writhing in his own agony. Jupe is the perfect scene partner, and wholly heartbreaking. This as the horror of it is made all the more vivid, as you see how each act wears on the boy.
Jupe's work is terrific because he is true partner to LaBeouf, as he only is ever an honest boy put in a terrible situation. Take one particularly outstanding scene for both actors. This as Jupe as Otis relays messages of the failure of James's marriage through the phone, talking to his mother. Jupe is devastating in the scene because he depicts the harrowing nature as his face just wears the burden of his parents fighting essentially through him. This as LaBeouf is fantastic in delivering such a raw breakdown, that feels only ever real in showing he man's anger at really everything about his existence in lashing out at who should be his loved ones. We do see some comfort in each, away from each other. In the scenes where we see Otis seek solace with the same local girl James seemed to try to seduce, Jupe quite frankly makes them work. This as his performance, in every moment of it, is that of a boy looking for familial comfort. The situation itself theoretically scandalous, of the boy "sleeping" next to the young woman, but Jupe shows in each moment a boy just trying to find a basic comfort this father does not provide. This coincides with a scene of James, at an AA, meeting explaining his own screwed up childhood of abuse and hardship. LaBeouf is astonishing in this scene, this as he doesn't reveal some different James, rather he simply lays bare all that pain that is a constant in the man. here though it is not without anger, but actually a sense of reflection.
LaBeouf's eyes evoke so strongly the wounds of the past unhealed, that have essentially broken this man. LaBeouf reveals the truth of the man, that is almost inspiring in the moment in its honesty, even though it only shows an awareness of his faults however still an inability not to give himself to them. This as we see both really get to their worst place between Otis and James, where James resorts to direct physical abuse. Jupe and LaBeouf make a distressing scene. This as each lashing out at each other, Otis verbally, and James physically is marked by a mutual sense of betrayal. In Jupe's eyes are piercing in a real sadness at the act of attacking his father for his failures compared to his success, while LaBeouf is searing in the ferocity of his reaction of man unable to cope with being what he is. What is so incredible, is that LaBeouf's work isn't without warmth, there are moments of a the signs of a better father, however it is so wound within such self-loathing and resentment, that it cannot reveal itself purely as a father's tenderness. One of their final scenes together, is so impressive in the direct truths both Jupe and LaBeouf are able to express in their characters. This in Jupe's disdain is the wear of years of abuse, fed up with his failure of a father, and this against LaBeouf's collapse in front of him, which manages to be moving, as the emotion is so sincere in this moment of admitting to himself his own disappointment as a father, in this scene of anguish. Jupe's work is remarkable in creating this vivid portrait of a mature boy, who more than anything would wish to be innocent. I will say though my take away from the film has to be LaBeouf's evocative turn of essentially his own personal demon, personified but also so powerfully humanized. Although his more recent efforts had already began to turn my perspective of him as actor around, this is a major step forward, in this daring, dedicated and downright unforgettable portrait of his own father.
