Best Boy [DVD]

A sincere, from the heart, documentary. It is full of warmth, and is driven by a need to be successful at the task at hand.

The filmmaker's cousin, Philly, is a man in his early 50's who is emotionally developmentally challenged. Philly is still cared for by his parents (his father shaves him each morning). Ira recognizes that the parents will not always be alive to care for their son, and procedes to get training for Philly to allow him to live on his own in an assisted living environment.

This family drew me in as they worked with the day to day joy of the son learning and becoming more self reliant. But guess what comes with self reliance? And imagine how hard that might be to accept after all the years of taking care of almost every detail.

It really is a joyful film, and a wonderful look at human nature.

Best Boy won a best documentary Oscar and quite a few other awards; and the film deserved all of them. This sensitive, realistic documentary takes a loving, sensitive and rarely seen look at the lives of a developmentally challenged man, Phillip (aka "Philly") Wohl and his elderly parents, Max and Pearl. When the film starts, Max and Pearl are already up in years and they're beginning to have numerous medical problems associated with aging; Ira Wohl, both the filmmaker and Philly's cousin, made this film to show just how drastically Philly's life would change when his parents were no longer there to take care of him. The result works beautifully; we get a respectful, dignified look at Philly with his parents Max and Pearl; and there is some footage with Philly's sister as well.

Filmmaker Ira Wohl tracks on film Philly's life over roughly three and one-half years as he moves from being totally sheltered from the outside world, living life in his parents' home and only going out with his parents to the point where Philly goes to a day program for persons who are developmentally challenged--and then to the point where he finally moves into a nearby home for people just like himself. What is wonderful to watch is just how happily Philly adjusts to his new life; he soon becomes restless and bored when he can't get to the day program because of a heavy snowstorm; and he goes to a summer camp away from home--voluntarily--for the very first time living away from his parents even if it is only for three weeks. Philly quickly comes to love every bit of change that he experiences; his lust for life is striking even as his parents Max and Pearl (especially Pearl) yearn for their son to come back home full time again.

Of course, as you already know, Philly eventually moves into a home for others like himself; this home is managed by social workers and others who can supervise him while encouraging him to be as independent as possible and still be there for him if he develops any unforeseen problems.

While it may easily seem as if I've given too much away, I assure you that I haven't. There's a touching scene that will make you remember a song from a major Broadway musical like never before; and there is more footage of other events in Philly's life--some positive and some not so positive.

I highly recommend Best Boy for anyone interested in the issues explored by this film. In addition, people who enjoy biographical, social and even cultural documentaries will want to add this to their collections.

This is a touching documentary about a man with mental retardation and his elderly parents.