Erase to the Bottom

Movies that attract the notice of the Oscars (and other Hollywood awards) tend to be released in last couple months of the year. But they're often talked up well before that: "These are the films likely to contend at the next Oscars." The manufacturing of the hype begins sometimes even before any critics have seen a movie. And sometimes, the hype is all there is; the movie turns out not to be particularly good. So it was with last year's Boy Erased.

Based on a memoir by Garrard Conley (with the same title), this is the story of young Jared Eamons. After his first year of college, Jared is beginning to realize that he's gay. His parents -- particularly his preacher father -- send him to a program for conversion therapy. The traumatizing experience turns out to be an important one on Jared's particular journey to self-acceptance.

Conversion therapy is, quite simply, repugnant. For teenagers forced into it by their parents, it can cause irreparable emotional damage. Those who seek it voluntarily are not only hurting themselves (though that's bad enough), they're perpetuating a lie that will continue to damage others as long as it persists. This is all very spiky territory for a dramatic movie. Perhaps fearing the thorns, Boy Erased goes for a loose grip that grasps onto very little.

Jared is often too passive a protagonist in this tale. Though flashbacks sprinkled throughout do illuminate his story, he's rarely more than an observer in the present day. The evils of conversion therapy are visited on others more so than Jared, who is kept at a remove from the worst of it. It's hard to tell just how much time is supposed to be passing, or what cumulative effect his experiences are having. He often only sees or hears the aftermath of the most horrible events; the movie shies away from making its audience face too many uncomfortable things. (It's no coincidence that the few scenes when it does are the most potent moments in the movie.)

Perhaps the real issue is that the struggle of wrestling with one's sexuality is a hard thing to capture on film. For one thing, it's deeply personal, different for everyone who goes through it. It's also deeply internal, not easily summed up in any monologue even if a movie tried to have one. I strongly suspect that Garrard Conley's memoir is far more compelling than this adaptation, having more time and space to really get into his experiences.

There is a sense that everyone involved in this film means well, but the script (by star and director Joel Edgerton) has a few structural problems that keep it from being the tale of LGBT empowerment it's meant to be. The most dramatic moment of standing up for what's right is given not to Jared, but to his mother. The most terrible thing to happen to Jared is not the therapy, but being victimized in a college dorm room. It may well be these elements are grounded in truths taken from the original memoir, but they subtly shift the focus to people other than Jared, and things other than self-acceptance.

Lucas Hedges does give a strong performance. And Nicole Kidman does make the most of her role as his mother. Beyond that, the most standout member of the cast is Flea -- who stands out for the wrong reason here. ("Wait... is that Flea?") Russell Crowe and Joel Edgerton coast on archetypes, and Cherry Jones, though excellent, is in the film far too briefly.

There are moments that work, but they're rare enough that the film feels long. It's not "bad." Instead, the problem is more that it's boring. I give Boy Erased a C. Perhaps I expected too much.