(Photo Credits: Screengrab from RoadsideFlix’s Official YouTube Account)
You don’t know what it’s like to muster up the courage to ask for help.
Have you ever heard of Joe Bell, guys? If not yet, watching this film is a good chance to learn about the powerful and moving story of the Bell family.
Joe Bell (2020, Reinaldo Marcus Green), follows the story of a man named, well, Joe Bell who embarks on a cross-country hike across the United States by way of honoring his son, Jadin Robert Joseph Bell.
Jadin was his 15-year-old gay son who died by suicide. At the time of his death, Jadin was a sophomore and a cheerleader at La Grande High School, in La Grande, Oregon. Jadin was reportedly “intensely bullied” on the Internet and in person because he was gay and his death had put a spotlight on gay bullying and its effect on the youth.
After Jadin’s death, Joe resigned from his job, helped launch Walk for Change—a non-profit anti-bullying foundation, and began a journey that will take him to places across the U.S. starting from Oregon to New York. He wanted to raise awareness on gay bullying; he wanted to speak in high schools and communities about bullying and its effects. He said, “Not doing anything is not acceptable. [Those who watch and do nothing] are just as guilty. They are saying that it is acceptable.”
Mark Wahlberg stars as Joe Bell, Connie Britton stars as Joe’s wife, Lola Bell, while newcomer Reid Miller plays the role of Jadin. Gary Sinise joins the cast as a sheriff whom Bell met while on his journey. Sinise’s character, who also has a gay son, tells Joe Bell, “Jadin knew before he died that you loved him and accepted him — that’s what matters.” Bell, on the other hand, replies, “I never let him know it was OK. I gotta live with that.”
Watch the film’s trailer below:
Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry wrote the script for Joe Bell. They won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain. Mr. McMurtry passed away due to congestive heart failure last March.
Joe Bell is coming to a movie theater near you this July 23, 2021.
Whoa, this is one of those true stories that’s really going to touch those of us whom ‘know’ what it’s like to have been bullied for whatever reason; goes straight to the child in ‘us’ that recalls. It’s going to touch a range of emotions ‘those of us’ who posses a range of emotions that is. It makes me wonder about these actors/artists… these are fairly “masculine-types,” just wonder their stance on the subject of homosexuality, freedoms, etc., they’ve always played some pretty “straight, tough-guy” roles, and to see them in something like this… As someone who was bullied, until… Read more »
Darlings!…
after reading the story…I simply & undeniably…had to reach for my trusted box of “Scented Kleenex Tissues”!
The tears flowed…until the Oriental Rug…underneath my Chesterfield Smoking Chair, began to float!
Does Dave not know how dangerous it is to blog such gut-wrenching depictions of Humanity’s Pathos, Despairs and Ungodly Misfortunes, to the aging members of A4A who read and contribute to these Blogs?
Heart Palpitations, Arrhythmias, elevated PBs, decreased Peristalsis and increased Bowel Movements…all because of this Blog’s story-line!
Interesting turn for Mark Wahlberg considering he’s homophobic. No need to rehash his early 20-something rhetoric or his Calvin Klein ads. (You can put any 20-something in the gym for a few weeks and you’ll get the exact same generic look.) He filled that white suburban rapper need even though he was never much of a rapper or singer; and he’s even less talented as an actor. He’s a brand rather than an artist with any talent. To the film itself: Retrospective stories about what “I should have done while s/he was alive” leave me cold. Certainly the survivor can… Read more »
He, being a “Southie” self-admitted racist “in the past” as well, he was talking about possibly entering some form of politics at the time during his interview when he admitted his past transgressions. I really appreciate your informative input, thanks, man. I survived my suicide attempt. . . I’ve never been quite the same person since. I can, put this out there/here, I tend to live out loud myself, because I know, there is at least one person reading this; will be saved. It is a “permanent solution to a temporary problem” think otherwise, don’t do it! Regardless of you’re… Read more »
Would anyone be able to tell me the song and artist playing in the Joe Bell trailor?
It’s “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile
Sadly we have all been touched by someone who checks out on their own.
While I think it’s natural to think about suicide, I don’t think it’s natural to act upon those thoughts.
Suicide is best described as a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Mental illness is not a temporary problem
The person has been living with a terrible illness for years
Seems like it could be a good movie, but I boycott Mark Wahlberg movies. I believe in forgiveness, but after proper atonement for one’s past actions. For those who are unaware, Mark Wahlberg has committed some pretty serious racist hate crimes in the past, including an incident where he beat a Filipino man’s eye out of his head simply because the guy was Filipino. I saw an interview with him once when he was asked about if he had ever tried to reach out to the man to apologize, and he said that he hadn’t, and that he felt that… Read more »