Recovery Boys
Director: Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 2.0
Sheldon trails several young men who go into (and out of) Dr. Blankenship's Jacob's Ladder rehabilitation facility in West Virginia because of heroin addiction - out of four of the individuals focused on it seems like two might do fine long term, one's an iffy case (his Mom helps) and the last is a lost cause, which is tragic because that person has two daughters he needs to raise. Sheldon's fly-on-the-nicotine-stained-wall, non-judgmental style can be a good thing, like when she records some interesting conversations between the men, but her refusal to look at "bigger issues" and broaden her view leaves the project very limited in range - she also doesn't press the guys on anything, and they blow her off with studied vagueness. The situation for all involved is inherently distressing, but it does feel a bit like a special on The Learning Channel, sandwiched in-between episodes of "My Strange Addiction."
