I had high hopes for Shawn Ku’s Beautiful Boy. The story of a married couple whose son commit’s a heinous act as he opens fire on his fellow students, killing several and wounding others, and then turning the gun on himself. I thought that this film would be a brave step into a world of unexplored topics and issues that haven’t been cross checked since Michael Moore’s Bowling For Columbine. Unfortunately Ku’s Beautiful Boy starts off strong but eventually fades into a safety zone that neither explores the more taboo subjects it could have and in turn rests on the unwinding marriage of the two parents left behind. It would have been one thing to explore a family whose existence showed no cracks or faults but Michael Sheen and Maria Bello come to us shrink wrapped in dismay. What could have been something to talk about soon turns into the norm of just another couple at odds with one another and not the controversial act surrounding their son.

QUALITY:
Horrible. Not sure why but Ku’s direction moves into a documentary style shoot that includes a somewhat shaky camera, a grainy texture throughout, and a very ugly lack of color through most of the film. Definition, clarity, color, and sharpness all suffer because of this approach and it just turns into a film that I would suggest as a DVD viewing, if you have to see it at all, or wait for it to come out on TV. Highly disappointing. Audio is fine with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that carries the dialogue crisply throughout and on occasion offers immersion that puts you directly in the room. A few times I thought someone was in the house or my phone was ringing. Yup, that good.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Deleted Scenes
~Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Shawn Ku, Editor Chad Galster and Cinematographer Michael Fimognari.