{"id":9393,"date":"2024-12-01T09:53:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T14:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=9393"},"modified":"2024-12-01T09:53:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T14:53:49","slug":"joe-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/12\/01\/joe-bell\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Bell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Joe Bell<\/strong> (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roadside Attractions\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language including offensive slurs, some disturbing material, teen partying)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Antonio Pinto\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jacques Jouffret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 23, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Maxwell Jenkins, Gary Sinise, Morgan Lily, Blaine Maye, Igby Rigney, Coral Chambers, Scout Smith, David H. Stevens, Blake Barlow, Charles Halford, Jayne Luke.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $1.7M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: **<\/p>\n

\u00a0The anti-bullying drama Joe Bell<\/strong> comes from a good place. It\u2019s sincere in its efforts to address a serious issue that\u2019s been plaguing schools and other institutions for far too long. Nothing can ever take that away, not even the negative review I\u2019m about to write.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For all its good intentions, Joe Bell<\/strong> is too didactic to achieve its desired emotional impact. Like the eponymous character played by Mark Wahlberg (Patriots Day), it talks at you rather than to you. All too often, I felt like I was watching one of those old afterschool specials dealing with teen-relevant topics like alcoholism, drugs, suicide and pregnancy. The subject in this case is bullying and the impact it has on victims. The victim in Joe Bell<\/strong> is a gay teen living in a small Oregon town evidently populated by toxic teens and narrow-minded bigots who prefer to sweep the situation under the rug rather than disrupt the status quo by actually doing something about it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), Joe Bell<\/strong> tells the true story of a father who embarks on a walking trip across America to raise awareness about bullying. He\u2019s doing it for his 15YO son Jadin (Miller, Play by Play), a sensitive type bullied by his classmates for being gay. Through flashbacks, we see the hell the boy goes through on a daily basis. He\u2019s harassed in the halls, cafeteria and on social media. He doesn\u2019t get a lot of reassurance from his dad who harshly orders him to fight back when he advises him of the situation. School officials do nothing after he\u2019s assaulted by a**hole jocks in the locker room. One unhelpful administrator suggests he transfer to another school. The journey allows Joe the opportunity to bond with a son he doesn\u2019t understand while learning a thing or two about himself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Because Joe Bell <\/strong>is a true story, chances are you already know how it ends. If not, you can easily Google it. Either way, you already know a terrible tragedy occurs. I won\u2019t reveal it out of respect for those who like to go into movies cold, even ones based on real-life stories. It\u2019s what sets Joe out on his mission. He plans to walk all the way to New York City, stopping along the way to deliver speeches about bullying, tolerance and acceptance. It\u2019s an admirable undertaking, but is he doing it for the right reasons? His wife Lola (Britton, Nashville) asks at one point if he\u2019s doing it for their son or himself. Jadin questions his methods and intentions at every turn.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The non-linear structure employed by Green works against the movie. It only succeeds in giving Joe Bell<\/strong> a noticeably disjointed feel which, in turn, keeps the drama at arm\u2019s length. I really wanted to feel Joe\u2019s grief, but couldn\u2019t. It isn\u2019t just the narrative structure that hurts the film. It\u2019s also Wahlberg\u2019s lifeless performance as the title character. It is monotony personified. Most of the time, he appears to be sleepwalking. I wanted to like him; I wanted to like his character. I felt nothing for him except the desire to make him understand he\u2019s not helping his cause any by talking at people. Like the movie, the man fails to engage his audience. Miller, on the other hand, is quite good as Jadin. I felt for him. He effectively conveys the helplessness, hopelessness and despair shared by all victims of bullying. The scene where he futilely begs a female friend for help is absolutely heartbreaking. It\u2019s moments like this when we see the film Joe Bell<\/strong> could have been. The same can be said of any scene with Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump) who plays a small but significant role as a lawman who understands Joe very, very well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In the end, Joe Bell <\/strong>meanders around for 94 minutes and ends up going nowhere. Sure, the main character connects with his son and learns a lesson, but who didn\u2019t see that coming? I feel obligated to mention a surprise twist that really isn\u2019t a surprise if you\u2019re observant. Keep an eye on Jadin and his interactions with others on the road. Notice something odd? The same device was used in 2019\u2019s Last Christmas. Anyway, it doesn\u2019t matter. Despite its heart being in the right place, Joe Bell<\/strong> fails on too many levels to make any sort of impactful statement. A smaller, more personal piece with less narrative trickery would have been the way to go here. This is one time I would encourage a redo; it\u2019s a story totally worth telling as long as it\u2019s done right.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joe Bell (2021)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roadside Attractions\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language including offensive slurs, some disturbing material, teen partying)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Antonio Pinto\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Jacques Jouffret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 23, 2021 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Maxwell Jenkins, Gary Sinise, Morgan Lily, Blaine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Joe-Bell.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9393"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9745,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9393\/revisions\/9745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}