KSL Movie Show review: ‘The Unbreakable Boy’ offers some gritty truths

Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.

SALT LAKE CITY —The producing Erwin Brothers, Andrew and Jon, have put together a string of strong faith-based films over the years, the most recent being “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” which was a big hit last year and had a wide mainstream audience, not just those looking for a pulpit message.

Yet for some reason yet to be explained, this film, “The Unbreakable Boy,” which was filmed in Oklahoma during the pandemic of 2020, slated for release in March of 2022, but was suddenly pulled back, only now is opening in theaters nearly three years later.

It features the true story of 13-year-old Austin (Jacob Laval) and his family. 

“Auz Man” as he likes to be called is dealing with Osteogenesis imperfecta or a rare brittle-bone disease, that he inherited from his mother, and he’s also on the autism spectrum.

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His parents, Theresa and Scott (Meghann Fahy and Zachary Levi) have a meet-cute in a small town clothing store. Soon after she discovers she’s pregnant, much to the concern of Scott’s not-so-thrilled mom (Patricia Heaton).  

Eventually, they do welcome baby Austin into the world, but all he does is cry all the time. 

Turns out, they discover Austin suffered fractured ribs from his birth and had been in constant agony since day one. This will only be the beginning of numerous unfortunate accidents that will befall this young man over the years, but as he grows up, he seems to take it all in stride.

Not me. 

I was a nervous wreck watching this kid do crazy stuff that would result in broken appendages or worse. 

On top of that, dad Scott drank too much, which threatened his family and livelihood and mom Theresa seemed to have a number of surprises in her past that should have been addressed as well. 

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There will be no rainbows and unicorns in this inspiring story as it chose to go a different route. There are a number of highs and lows that one normally wouldn’t anticipate in a supposed feel-good film like this, but it makes the characters seem more genuine and that was appreciated.

However, what really took this movie to a special place was the work of Jacob Laval as Auz Man. 

His non-stop energy, his joy of every moment, his continued optimism and love for those around him, made him both a treasure and pain.

You can see him driving his parents nuts with his constant stream-of-consciousness jabbering. He just wouldn’t shut up! But it all came from a sincere place, which again, made it feel believable. 

There was one thing that threw me. It was Scott’s imaginary friend Joe, who I thought would eventually go away as Scott matured. Nah. He’s not going anywhere. It was weird. 

But again, I was caught off guard by some of the gritty truths being offered, but to me that suggested a level of bravery that I didn’t expect to see in a family story with warts and all — you know — like actual people. Minus the imaginary Joe guy — still weird.  

“The Unbreakable Boy” (B) Rated PG for strong thematic material, alcohol abuse, language and some violence. Starring Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy, Jacob Laval, Drew Powell and Patricia Heaton. Co-written and directed by Jon Gunn (“Ordinary Angels,” “The Case for Christ”) — filmed in Oklahoma. Running time: 109 minutes. 

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.