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Don’t go see Mark Wahlberg‘s new movie, Joe Bell, unless you’re prepared to cry.
The new biographical drama directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), with a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, is headed to theaters this weekend, and it’s sure to take audiences on an emotional journey. Wahlberg stars as Joe Bell, a man who decides to walk across the United States to raise awareness for a campaign against bullying after his teenage son dies by suicide.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and has received mixed reviews from critics so far, with some faulting the film for being overly formulaic and melodramatic. But the fact of the matter is that Joe Bell is based on real life—and sometimes life is cruel. Read on to learn more about the Joe Bell true story.
IS JOE BELL BASED ON A TRUE STORY?
Yes. Joe Bell is based on the true story of a man whose 15-year-old openly gay son, Jadin Bell, died by suicide in 2013. You may want to stop reading now if you’re worried about being spoiled for the movie because Joe Bell’s story is tragic for more reasons than one. After losing his son, Bell quit his job at a wood manufacturing company and embarked on a cross-country walking trip in honor of his son, intending to raise awareness for Faces for Change, a non-profit anti-bullying foundation that Bell helped launch. He started in his home state of Oregon in April 2013—one month after his son died—with a plan to walk across the continental United States in two years.
About halfway into his walk, on October 9, 2013, Bell was struck and killed by a semi-truck in Colorado. He was 48 years old. The driver of the truck was cited with reckless driving.
Bell had been documenting his journey on his Facebook page, Joe’s Walk For Change. A Facebook post announcing Bell’s death in 2013 read, “Thank you so much for all of your continued support, he loved everyone he came into contact with, and was so appreciative of all of your support. He will continue his journey now with Jadin. Please keep his family in your prayers and thoughts.”
Bell’s non-profit organization, Faces For Change, granted its first scholarship in 2014, and the organization can be found on Facebook.
