Read Johnny's review of Beautiful Boy.
Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.
Beautiful Boy is in select theaters on October 12th, 2018.
I have to admit I had high hopes for Beautiful Boy. I thought it was going to be a heart
wrenching journey about addiction. From the looks of the trailers it had Oscar’s written all over
it. Overall the film seemed like a really long PSA about drug use and addiction.
Beautiful Boy is based off the two best-selling memoir’s by David Sheff. It follows the titular
characters David Sheff played by Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet as Nic Sheff. Growing
up Nic was a wholesome kid, he got good grades, stayed out of trouble, and loved art. David
and Nic had the ideal father/son relationship they enjoyed doing family activities and on the
outside it looked like they didn’t keep any secrets from one another. David seemed to truly care
about his son. Sadly, it wasn’t until Nic’s high school graduation that things began to change.
This film is comprised of many flash backs showing us how Nic began living a secret life and
eventually became a full blown addict. Night after night Nic started coming home at strange
times and became more secluded. Soon David took notice and did what any parent would, he
tried to get his son the help he needed. Now when I said this was a PSA about drug use, this is
what I meant: addiction is challenging and should be taken very seriously.
The film is pertinent to America’s current opioid crisis and shows us the ins and outs of
addiction. Overall the film is overwhelmingly sad one. My issue with this film is that it spends
120 minutes chronicling more or less the same situations regarding addiction. You’re never
certain if there is any light at the end of the tunnel. Where this film shines is through Steve
Carell’s character. He does a great job portraying a father who is willing to do anything to help
his son. His actions are truly believable. Chalamet coming off of his Call Me By Your Name
Oscar nomination proves that he was meant for serious roles and should be casted accordingly.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Johnny (Senior Contributor) was born and raised in San Diego. He's been a fan of films the majority of his life. He enjoys the feeling it invokes and the power it has to take you to another place.Click Here to check out Johnny's Articles.