In the fall of 2009 I worked on Beautiful Boy, an independent film centered on the aftermath of a school shooting and its effect on the parents of the shooter.
The script deals with the issues with great restraint, focusing on the strains of the relationship between Michael Sheen and Maria Bello as the boy's parents.
It was a challenging project for all the normal circumstances of independent film. We had a very small crew and shot quickly. The shooting style worked out by Shawn Ku, the director, and Michael Fimognari, his talented cameraman, called for an improvisational feel. Although the scenes were scripted and blocked, the camera would pick out individual performers at will and one didn't know who would be on camera at any given moment. Shawn staged the scenes with considerable restraint and elicited wonderful performances from all the players.
It was a great pleasure to work on this project.
Variety has published a very appreciative and perceptive review by Joe Leydon. He quite rightly praises how the cast realistically underplays the material and Shawn's restraint at avoiding the predictable. He also, and this is remarkable for reviews in magazines, singles out the production sound for its contribution to the whole.
The review may be seen here:
David Waelder