LIFE IS A HIGHWAY // "GOOD JOE BELL" // TIFF 2020
"Based on a true story" can go many ways in a film adaptation. It can be a sincere, thoughtful and honest adaption or it can be a story that barely holds onto the truth of the original tale, spinning its own fiction onto the screen. Fortunately, GOOD JOE BELL, the first film from writers Diana Ossana & Larry McMurtry since Brokeback Mountain, mostly stays in the first category and weaves a sweet, honest and heartbreaking tale of a grieving family and their bullied son. Mark Wahlberg plays Joe Bell, a scruffy bearded man who's walking across America to raise awareness of bullying and the effects that it has. His son Jadin (Reid Miller) was bullied in his small town community because he was gay. As any of us who have grown up in a small town know all too well, that is indeed a crime in many people's eyes. However, Joe's not your typical "big heart doing good" character. He's, in fact, quite hard to like at many points in the film. He's the typical strong armed "macho" small town father. Yelling is how he gets things done, and barely acknowledges his family while the game is on, even if his son is trying to reach out and connect with him. A prime example is when Joe tells his son (who has pulled him away from watching the game while trying to muster the courage to come out), "The game ain't gonna watch itself."
Tragedy strikes the Bell family and Joe realizes that he ignored how bad Jadin was being bullied. So he starts his walk across American (ending in NYC, where Jadin dreams of living), to talk to people about his own personal experience and how to recognize the signs. He'll speak to anyone who will listen, from churches to schools to local gay bars. Yet he's still Joe. He hasn't radically changed, but instead is trying to use his own experience as a learning tool for others. If his story can change one family, then he will have succeeded.
Wahlberg turns in a fascinating and complex performance here, one that's definitely shadowed by the actors own past. He himself has had a history of the "macho man," so stepping into Joe's shoes feels immediately authentic and he quietly attacks the shame and anger. In fact, he doesn't let go of it after the tragedy. He explodes just as much, if not more, but wisely Wahlberg turns it mostly at himself. Joe the character and Joe the real person was complicated, and neither the actor nor the film shy away from that. He's no saint, but instead a man trying to escape his pain and regret by teaching others not to be like him. It's quietly moving and a deeply satisfying performance. Reid Miller is phenomenal as Jadin Bell. He is a beautiful soul trapped inside a backwards town that sadly doesn't see how special he truly is. He turns in a heartbreaking performance that will definitely rip you apart and put you back together again.
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green sidesteps melodrama and obvious choices that could have marred the story, and the script by Ossana and McMurtry seems to aim both at a wider audience and the more selective indie crowd. They capture an important combination of honesty and truth that makes GOOD JOE BELL shine. Sadly, the world hasn't grown much since Joe took his walk across America, but hopefully by telling stories like this and knowing stories like Jadin's we can continue to grow. The world needs more Jadin's in it. It's up to us to recognize them and support them. And love them, no matter what.
GRADE: A-
WRITTEN BY Diana Ossana, Larry McMurtry DIRECTED BY Reinaldo Marcus Green STARRING Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton Selected as part of the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. For more info: https://www.tiff.net/events/good-joe-bell