Shia LaBeouf’s ‘Honey Boy’ follows the footsteps of recent Oscar winners who got personal and told their own stories
Shia LaBeouf gets unusually personally in the drama “Honey Boy.” The scandal-plagued actor wrote the semi-autobiographical script about the upbringing that shaped him, and he even co-stars in the film as a version of his own alcoholic father. It’s hard to get more vulnerable than that on-screen. Will he be rewarded by the Oscars for it?
In the last few years telling your own family’s story has been a good way to get the motion picture academy’s attention. Best Picture winner “Moonlight” was based on a semi-autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay. And last year the top two Best Picture contenders, “Roma” and “Green Book,” were stories about the families of their respective filmmakers. Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for “Roma,” which explored his upbringing in Mexico City from the point of view of their family’s maid. And Nick Vallelonga won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for telling the story of his father’s tour with a black musician through the Jim Crow South.
The Oscars are ostensibly about quality alone, but we know that it usually takes more than just a good movie to win awards. For better or worse, having a compelling behind-the-scenes narrative helps drive interest, and having a personal connection to the material can make it feel personal to the people watching. LaBeouf’s connection to “Honey Boy” is unmistakable. Though details have been fictionalized, the onscreen version of himself (played as a child by Noah Jupe and as an adult by Lucas Hedges) is unmistakable: the character of Otis Lort grows up as a child actor on TV, just like LaBeouf, and he grows up to become an action star plagued by scandals and substance abuse, just like LaBeouf.
After such a fraught adult career, undertaking a project like this is nothing if not a risk, but “Honey Boy” won a Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January for director Alma Har’el‘s vision and craft. And some critics have called the film a “triumph” for LaBeouf and “a reminder of [his] talent.” He’s “phenomenal.”
Actors and filmmakers usually say they never make movies for the awards, and while this film has the potential to be an awards contender, there’s probably nobody for whom that has been truer than LaBeouf, who penned this script while in rehab. Getting a juicy acting vehicle for awards season was probably pretty far down on his list of priorities at the time. But Hollywood also loves a comeback (see also: Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler,” Sylvester Stallone in “Creed”), so if the erstwhile “Even Stevens” Emmy winner is putting his life back together onscreen and off, it might be a rehabilitation awards voters are eager to celebrate.
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