Good Joe Bell

Inspired by a true story, Good Joe Bell follows Mark Wahlberg’s title character as he and his gay son (Reid Miller’s Jadin) embark on an entirely-on-foot journey across America to raise awareness on bullying. There’s ultimately little doubt that Good Joe Bell grows more and more engaging as it progresses, as filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green, working from a script by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, offers up a watchable yet far-from-captivating opening stretch that does, for the most part, feel far too familiar and by-the-numbers to make much of a memorable impression – although, by that same token, it’s clear that the picture benefits substantially from Wahlberg’s subtle, engrossing turn as the somewhat tortured central character. The movie’s passable vibe persists right up until Green delivers an unexpected narrative curveball right around the halfway mark, with the decidedly poignant nature of this twist paving the way for a far more emotionally-resonant second half than one might’ve anticipated. And while the film does suffer from a few missteps here and there, including a reliance on rather generic flashbacks designed to flesh out Miller’s character and his plight, Good Joe Bell, which boasts a touching late-in-the-game appearance by Gary Sinise, mostly comes off as an earnest, sporadically heartbreaking drama that shines a light on a fairly spellbinding true story.

*** out of ****