Beautiful Boy – Film Review

What does the face of drug addiction look like in the United States? Are they young and white, living in an affluent neighborhood, or a person of color living in the projects? The truth is that drug addiction has no barriers; it can affect anyone who is susceptible to the lures of euphoria and escape. It doesn’t necessarily mean only depressed and lonely people use; no, it affects happy people who seem to have idyllic lives as well. Nic Sheff (Timothy Chalamet) had it all, he grew up in Marin County (an affluent area north of San Francisco), someone who was seemingly content, had an upbringing with loving parents and siblings, and all the opportunities that the world could offer, at his fingertips. In the film Beautiful Boy, we experience the journey of drug addiction and a father’s relentless fight to save his son’s life.

Set in the early 2000’s, David Sheff (Steve Carell), a prominent magazine writer, tries to help his son Nic conquer his addiction. He is constantly glued to his phone, waiting for that phone call from Nic or from someone who knows his whereabouts. He frantically searches on the internet for some shred of knowledge about methamphetamine addiction. He wants to understand how meth is affecting his son’s brain, how he can help restore his son’s failing nerve endings; he wants some information that will tell him what to do to help his son. Desperate to get his son help, he doesn’t even blink an eye when he is quoted forty thousand dollars for a drug rehab stay.

This movie does not portray drug addiction like Requiem for a Dreamor Trainspotting, we do not see Nic downward spiral to that extent or take a joy ride through what drugs can feel like through the lens of Hollywood. You know when they show a person’s eyeballs dilate, all while psychedelic music plays in the background, none of that happens here.

Instead this film is the journey of what drug addiction really looks like; it’s one where a person gets clean, and they seem to be riding the high that is sobriety, and the person’s family believes wholeheartedly that the person will stay clean, but then they relapse. They get clean again, and they relapse again, the cycle continues ad nauseum to the point where the family who is trying to help the junkie feels defeated and crushed. Will they ever get better? Is my son, daughter, mom, dad (insert anyone), still inside there? And when the family sees a glimmer of their old self come through, that is what keeps them going to save that person.

I have experienced the ups and downs of drug addiction first hand, in my family. I’ve seen people get and stay clean, people trying to jump out of windows to fight the detox, festering heroin wounds, and how loving people turn into mean and monstrous people on drugs. I can never shake some of these memories. Many relapse again and again to this day falling back into old patterns. This is one of the few movies I have ever seen that has really shown that side of drug addiction. It isn’t cool, it isn’t funny, or hip, it takes a person’s soul day by day, but as a family we also hope for the best for our loved ones. We hope that they will get better, and deep down inside, we know that they can. David embodied that sentiment and Nic personified the charming addict.

BEAUTIFUL BOY
Timothée Chalamet as Nic Sheff and Steve Carell as David Scheff

Chalamet was extraordinary, we felt compassion for him, and could see the moments when he was clean and probably thinking about drugs. You could see him coming out of his skin, without doing it literally. His acting showed layers of emotion and depth. One I haven’t seen in a long time, in fact I kept thinking throughout the film, that Nic Sheff would have been the role that young Leonardo DiCaprio would have wanted to play. But now we have Chamalet, a new guard of young actors is coming through, and he will be at the forefront for years to come.

Carell was phenomenal, and as an actor we see a different side of him. No longer the quirky Michael Scott persona that many people remember him as, here we see him as a multi-dimensional character. One minute he is fighting for his son’s life, another he makes a bold choice to tell him that he cannot enable him anymore. A father lost in his head, constantly thinking of his son, Carrell was able to portray that emotion with ease. At his younger children’s play, we see him look at their faces, relish in their innocence, and know that he has lost a part of his son.

Both Chamalet and Carrell gave Oscar-worthy performances and will be in the running for this year’s Oscars race. This is a movie you cannot miss, and one that will leave indelible mark on your psyche and make you appreciate your loved ones even more.

Starring: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Christian Convery, Oakley Bull, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Ryan, Stefanie Scott, Julian Works
Directed by: Felix Van Groeningen
Written by: Luke Davies (screenplay), Felix Van Groeningen (screenplay), David Sheff (based on the book “Beautiful Boy”) Nic Sheff (based on the book “Tweak”)
MPAA rating: R
Running time: 120 minutes
Rating: 4