THE UNBREAKABLE BOY - Mark Reviews Movies

The Unbreakable Boy, Lionsgate

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | February 20, 2025

Unsure of whose story it wants to tell, The Unbreakable Boy goes for cheap and often disingenuous sentimentality. It's a story filled with characters who must have some depth, beyond the fact that they're based on real people, but in writer/director Jon Gunn's movie, they possess the thoughtfulness of greeting cards.

Initially, it's the story of Austin (Jacob Laval), a 13-year-old boy who has spent his life with two medical conditions. He has osteogenesis imperfecta—"brittle bone disease" in more common parlance—and is on the autism spectrum. In a rush of back story, Austin takes us through his entire life before his first day in eighth grade, and despite so many broken bones (starting with a couple of broken ribs while he was born), the kid has a positive attitude about everything. Explaining his neurodevelopmental issue, Austin explains that, while some on the spectrum don't speak much, he loves to talk all the time about whatever might be on his mind.

He's a good kid, obviously, and apart from one moment when his anger gets the better of him, the movie treats the character with such wide-eyed admiration and reverence that it might double-back and become a bit patronizing about him. Gunn's screenplay doesn't feel that way from the start, because it gives Austin his voice and allows the character to speak exclusively for himself and his experiences. Eventually, though, Austin starts to become more of a plot device and a means for another character to have his story told than the actual protagonist of what starts as the boy's own tale.

That other character is Austin's father Scott (Zachary Levi), who goes through his own gauntlet of challenges and setbacks and changes. From the introduction, we learn, via Austin, that his father and mother Teresa (Megann Fahy), one of two characters who seem a lot more interesting than Scott but remain shoved in the background, had a slightly unorthodox romance. They met in a store, where she was working and he was browsing with his best and invisible (Don't ask, because the movie mostly bypasses this very odd detail) friend Joe (Drew Powell). After going on three dates, Teresa was pregnant before they could have a fourth one.

Scott decides to step up, have Teresa move in with him, have and raise the baby together, and start a family in a house he could buy by staying in a job he wanted to move on from in a few years. By the way, Teresa also has osteogenesis imperfecta and plenty of dreams she probably wanted to work toward, but apparently, none of that matters, as long as Scott can earn her love, respect, and recognition for everything he has sacrificed to be her partner and a father to the couple's two kids.

Yes, this eventually does become Scott's story first and foremost. The basic reason is that the movie is based on Scott LeRette's non-fiction book (co-written with Susy Flory). Surely, there are plenty of people who believe their own story is of some interest to the world, but the very nature of this movie contradicts the gradual shift from Autin to Scott as the story's central figure. Here, Austin is presented as someone who sees the world in a fantastical way and other people in an empathetic one—a kid who can teach people, especially and maybe exclusively his father in this story, a lot about life.

What makes his dad so special by comparison, though? It's tough to tell, as Scott becomes resentful, starts drinking to excess, puts himself and his family into unnecessary peril, and eventually learns that everything he could ever have wanted is right there in front of him. If this is authentic to the book and to LaRette's life, that's good for him. In terms of storytelling, however, it's a fundamental misstep.

If the narrative is going to expand beyond Austin, why doesn't it take Teresa, who's just portrayed as the long-suffering wife with an obsession for video games, into account? For that matter, where is the couple's younger son Logan (Gavin Warren) in all of this? He gets one encounter with a school bully, which lets the brother also learn something from Austin, but it's a credit to the young actor's performance that we can see so much more going on in Logan's head than the movie allows. Surely, this kid, who is always overlooked and underappreciated and and looking out for his brother with no acknowledgment from his parents, deserves some kind of recognition.

No, it's Scott's story instead, despite at least three other characters in The Unbreakable Boy who seem more worthy of attention. The movie puts on a show of having a big heart, but its actual sincerity, like its focus, is decidedly limited.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products

Buy the Book

Buy the Book (Kindle Edition)