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Joe Bell

Good Joe Bell

2020

Reinaldo Marcus Green

Mark Wahlberg, Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Gary Sinise ...

6.1

848

Drama Joe’s (Wahlberg) teenage son Jadin has grown into a beautiful, talented young gay man, but he’s bullied mercilessly at his high school, and Joe’s grudging “tolerance” of his son is no help. Joe could have been permanently broken by regret, but instead sets out on a mission. He will walk across America, speaking to school groups, communities, anyone who will listen, about the corrosive dangers of bullying.

	Media	Author	Review
		David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Led by a performance that feels grounded in genuine pain and atonement (...) Directed with great sensitivity by Reinaldo Marcus Green (...) Sincere and emotionally charged"
		Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"[Wahlberg] makes a convincing plea for awards recognition in [a] heartbreaking true story (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"This film has its heart in the right place but not the best plan for executing its strategy (...) Although thoughtful and emotional, 'Good Joe Bell' focuses less on the son than the father, turning the film into a familiar tale"
		Kate Erbland IndieWire	"Green’s film resists the sort of obvious cinematic catharsis expected of such a story, resulting in a final product that earns its emotional beats."
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"The good work of Reinaldo Marcus Green’s gentle, slight film is in reminding us of that plain and bitter fact. Queer kids are still relentlessly marginalized and harassed in places all across America"
		Peter Debruge Variety	"A bad movie about bullying (...) The movie has little to add to a story that got some local and national media attention"
		Jared Mobarak The Film Stage	"We feel [the character's] pain from frame number one. It helps that the film is so beautifully drawn as a cathartic therapy session comprised of memories, epiphanies, and regrets"
		Robert Daniels The Playlist	"A brisk film that (...) has its heart in the right place, but the limited gaze the writers and director offer withholds this redemptive tale from being the uplifting critique of homophobia and bullying that it needs to be"
		Steve Pond The Wrap	"A quietly affecting road trip that gets to where it wants to go (...) Walhberg is entirely believable"
		Matt Zoller Seitz rogerebert.com	"An earnest, somewhat scattered plea for tolerance, organized around a Mark Wahlberg star turn (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

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