Joe Bell (film)

Joe Bell
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Reinaldo Marcus Green
Written by	Diana Ossana Larry McMurtry
Produced by	Cary Joji Fukunaga Mark Wahlberg Riva Marker Daniela Taplin Lundberg Eva Maria Daniels Ryan Ahrens Stephen Levinson
Starring	Mark Wahlberg Reid Miller Connie Britton
Cinematography	Jacques Jouffret
Edited by	Mark Sanger
Music by	Antonio Pinto
Production companies	Endeavor Content Argent Pictures Rhea Films Stay Gold Features Nine Stories Productions Vision Chaos Parliament of Owls Closest to the Hole Leverage Entertainment
Distributed by	Roadside Attractions
Release dates	September 14, 2020 (2020-09-14) (TIFF) July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) (United States)
Running time	94 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.7 million[2][3]

Joe Bell is a 2020 American biographical drama road film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller and Connie Britton, and follows the true story of a man named Joe Bell, who sets out walking across America to speak out against bullying and honoring his teenage son, Jadin Bell, who committed suicide after he was bullied for being gay.

Joe Bell had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2020, and was released in the United States on July 23, 2021, by Roadside Attractions. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who were divided on whether it was feel-good and inspirational or reductive and contrived.

Plot[]

In May of 2013, a man named Joe Bell and his teenage 15-year old son, Jadin Bell, are walking in Twin Falls, Idaho and go to the Canyon Ridge High School where Joe gives a presentation about tolerance and the harmful effects of bullying while Jadin is present in the back of the auditorium watching. They both make camp along the highway to sleep for the night and continue on the next day, where Jadin criticizes him for his speech being a lie.

Nine months earlier in La Grande, Oregon in 2012, Jadin talks to his father and tells him that he is being bullied at school because he’s gay. Joe tells him that he should know how to defend himself and that he lets nature take its course, which will soon work itself out. Jadin's mother, Lola, disagrees and assures Jadin that they love him for who he is. Joe and Lola let Jadin join the cheerleading squad, but Jadin recognizes his father's embarrassment after he sees him and his friend, Marcie, practicing their cheers in the front yard and tells them to practice in the backyard. Joe later talks with him and tells him that he will try to be a better father for him.

flashing back to earlier, Joe and Jadin walk the highway in Southern Idaho, which they sing and dance to Lady Gaga's Born This Way, and then stop at a diner to eat. The news on the diner's TV mentions same-sex marriage, which receives mockery from some of the patrons. Despite Joe's attempts to inform the diners of his mission, Jadin tells Joe that it won't change those men, and that it's not the attendees of the lectures but people like the men in the diner and their kids that need to be enlightened about tolerance of and inclusiveness toward all persons regardless of their individual societal differences.

Flashing back to 2012, Jadin and Marcie attend a Halloween party with a couple of friends and Jadin falls for a football player named Chance Davidson. The two go to the back room where Chance smokes a cigarette and Jadin kisses him, which leads to making out. At the school's football game, Jadin cheers with the team but is heckled by the crowd and laughed at, while his father and mother both leave the game due to Joe's embarrassment. Later at home, while smoking a cigarette, Jadin is bullied on social media but is later comforted by his younger brother, Joseph.

Back on the road, Joe tells Jadin that he was supportive of his cheerleading activities. Jadin, however, points out that Joe only came to one game and left during the game after Jadin was heckled by some jocks. The two later stop for another campsite, eat dinner, and both have fun while shouting Jadin's school cheers in the rain. Back in 2012, Jadin and Chance have a conversation in Chance's truck and talk about their futures of attending different colleges, but Chance ends his relationship with Jadin due to his fear of his parents finding out about their relationship. Joe and Jadin arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they stop at a hotel. Jadin stays at the hotel while Joe goes to a gay bar. At the bar, Joe meets some of the patrons and tells them his story about his walk . When asked why he didn’t bring his son, Joe tells them that his son is dead. Jadin's presence was all in Joe's mind. Joe later continues on his walk without Jadin.

Lola and Joseph come to visit Joe and go to a rodeo show while having fun. We also realize that Joe feels hatred against those who bullied his son Jadin. But Lola tells him to figure out if he’s walking for fame or walking for Jadin. Moreover, Lola says that if Joe is really walking for Jadin, Jadin will let him know when it’s time to come home. Lola leaves with Joseph and Joe continues his walk, while having his rolling cart stolen and giving speeches and talks and interviews on various news programs, becoming famous. Later, Lola calls Joe and tells Joe that she found an essay that Jadin wrote. She reads it to Joe, and it is all about feeling different and bullied and how badly Jadin wants it to be over.

In a flashback, Jadin is assaulted by a couple of jocks in the locker room. He and his parents meet with a school administrator, who advises Jadin to perhaps transfer schools or go to therapy. She counsels them not to press charges, and the boys continue to harass Jadin across social media. One morning, Lola finds Jadin’s suicide note as a jogger comes across Jadin’s body. Jadin had hung himself from a swing set at a local elementary school's playground. After his death, one night, Joe gets in his car with a gun, but Joseph stops and takes it from him, and he goes to the elementary school where Jadin took his life. Distraught, Joe tells Lola he’s decided to walk across America to New York City to raise awareness about bullying, and that he’s doing it for Jadin, since Jadin told them that he would live there someday as an adult but never got to.

Back in 2013, Joe calls Lola and tells her that he can't go on and just wants to go home, but she convinces him to keep on walking and do it for Jadin. Joe later gets his rolling cart back from a man named Jim and keeps on moving. Sheriff Gary Westin pulls over to investigate the man on the road, and Joe explains his story about walking for 6 months and giving speeches about bullying. Westin brings Joe in for a hot meal and sets up a speaking engagement at the local high school. Westin tells Joe that his son Will is also gay, and they bond over their experiences. Westin tells him he didn’t consider until now that his son might have considered taking his own life, and that he doesn’t think he could have gone on if he had. Joe tells him he never let Jadin know it was okay and he has to live with that, and urges Westin not to make the same mistake.

Joe continues walking and once again sees Jadin. Joe apologizes, and Jadin tells him he always knew that Joe loved him, he was just in a lot of pain. They reconcile, and Joe calls Lola, leaving a message telling them he loves them and thanking them for putting up with him. He promises to be better about staying in touch.

One day, on October 9, 2013, Westin receives an emergency call and arrives at the scene where a truck driver had fallen asleep and hit a pedestrian, Joe, instantly killing him.

Joe and Jadin are seen walking in a field, away together in the sunlight. The credits roll in with photos of the real Joe Bell and Jadin, with videos.

Cast[]

• Mark Wahlberg as Joe Bell
• Reid Miller as Jadin Bell
• John Murray as Lost Boy
• Connie Britton as Lola Bell
• Maxwell Jenkins as Joseph Bell
• Gary Sinise as Sheriff Westin (based on Sheriff Tom Nestor)
• Blaine Maye as Boyd Banks
• Ash Santos as Kim
• Igby Rigney as Chance Davidson
• Morgan Lily as Marcie
• Scout Smith as Colleen
• Cassie Beck as Mrs. Swift
• Charles Halford as Will
• Tara Buck as Mary Ivy

Production[]

In April 2015, it was announced Cary Joji Fukunaga would direct the film, from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Fukunaga would produce the film, while Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker and Eva Maria Daniels would produce the film under their VisionChaos Productions and Parliament of Owls banners, respectively. A24 would produce and distribute the film.^[4]

In April 2019, Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Maxwell Jenkins and Gary Sinise joined the cast of the film. Reinaldo Marcus Green would direct the film, replacing Fukunaga who was still attached as a producer, with Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhaal and Stephen Levinson serving as producers, and A24 no longer distributing and producing.^[5][6][7] Principal photography began on April 15, 2019, and ended May 24, 2019.^[8][9]

Release[]

Under the title Good Joe Bell, the film had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2020.^[10] Shortly after, Solstice Studios acquired distribution rights to the film for $20 million.^[11] It was scheduled to be released on February 19, 2021.^[12] However, it was pulled from the schedule.^[13] In May 2021, it was announced that Roadside Attractions acquired distribution rights to the film from Solstice and set it for a July 23, 2021 release, with Vertical Entertainment set to distribute the film digitally following its theatrical release.^[14]

Reception[]

Box office[]

The film grossed $674,000 from 1,094 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing 11th at the box office.^[15]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 121 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Good Joe Bell's heartfelt message - and Reid Miller's stirring breakout performance - are unfortunately undermined by formulaic storytelling."^[16] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[17] Audiences surveyed by PostTrak gave the film a 79% positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[15]

Giving it a "C", The A.V. Club's A. A. Dowd stated "The film has its heart in the right place, but its head is foggy and possibly concussed; it seems uncertain how to reshape its ripped-from-the-headlines story into satisfying drama."^[18] Steve Pond of TheWrap called the film "An open-hearted, unapologetically emotional story of a man struggling to come to terms with what happened to his son and with his own complicity in it" and said "[t]here are shocks along the way, handled gently or dropped as a gut punch".^[19]

Peter Debruge of Variety was more critical, calling the film a "didactic anti-bullying melodrama that feels more akin to old-school TV movies" and saying that "[a] movie like this would be a good start, if this were 1980. A decade and a half after Brokeback Mountain, however, it feels like a huge step backward."^[20]

References[]

External links[]

• Joe Bell at IMDb
• Joe Bell at Rotten Tomatoes