Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy

Starring Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan

Directed by Felix van Groeningen

The Story:
David Sheff (Steve Carell) is a loving father who tends to his two young children with his current wife Karen (Maura Tierney), as well as his eighteen-year-old son Nic (Timothee Chalamet) from his ex-wife Vicki (Amy Ryan).  Growing up, Nic was a smart, driven young man with high hopes for the future and entrance to six different colleges, but then he began experimenting with drugs, and eventually gained an addiction to crystal meth, sending his life on a downward spiral.

As David tries to help his son, he begins finding that no matter what he does, nothing will help Nic out of this circle of dependency except for Nic himself.  He tries to allow Nic to make his own mistakes, but can't let go of the beautiful boy he raised, as Nic needs to find a way out of this deadly lifestyle before it kills him, and irrevocably harms everyone he loves around him.

The Synopsis:
Drug addiction has overtaken America, becoming the leading cause of deaths of people under the age of fifty.  We see on the news daily about people dying from overdoses, or doing something horrific because of their dependency on drugs.  Most of us, unfortunately, know someone who's addicted to one form of drug or another, and we might even ourselves be involved in that cycle.  In his first American film, Belgian director Felix van Groeningen manages to tap into something that many Americans face, and shows it in such a way that it seems like we're actually witnessing a family's turmoil on screen, not told through actors, but actually seeing them as they really are.

The film is based on the true-life story of David and Nic Sheff, as they worked through Nic's addiction to methamphetamine and the circular pattern he takes - from becoming dependent on the drug, to wanting to quit, to quitting and relapsing, it's a harrowing tale that far too many people today go through, and David serves as the father every son would die to have: a man who never gives up on his son, even though he knows he's playing a loosing game. 

Steve Carell has made a name for himself as something other than that dimwit manager from the hit TV series "The Office," earning an Academy Award nomination in 2015 for his role in the chill-inducing film "Foxcatcher."  With his performance here, I have no doubt he'll get another nomination, and it will be richly deserved.  As the father of a son going through drug addiction, he portrays David as any father in his situation would, not like how Hollywood typically portrays the hapless family.  He wants what's best for Nic, and wants to pull him out of this disastrous path he's going, but ultimately finds himself as helpless as anyone.  We see the internal struggle he goes through thanks to Carell's spectacular acting, and we can't help but feel a deep, emotional tie to the character.

On the opposite end of the coin, Timothee Chalamet (who exploded on the scene in last year's monumental "Call Me By Your Name," which earned the young star an Academy Award nomination) equally gives a tremendous tour-de-force performance as Nic, the young man struggling through the pains of addiction.  Like Carell, I see Chalamet earning another well-deserved Academy Award nomination here, as he plays Nic to the hilt, giving a nuanced and powerful performance that's not easily forgotten.  We see this young man grow up, a man full of life and promise, and see the effects drugs have on his life - not just the emotional, but mental as well.

We learn from a doctor in the film that, as Nic keeps taking drugs, it slowly destroys nerve cells in his brain that could be irreparable.  We see how these facts effect Nic's emotions, as his fear and emotional levels rise due to the use, and the complete and utter collapse when he comes down.  Nic goes from doing drugs to seeing how it affects him and his family, and wants to quit - and even though he quits, his emotions get the better of him and he relapses over and over again.  It's heartbreaking and crushing, and as I said before, it's like we're seeing real-life people on screen going through this living hell.

What makes "Beautiful Boy" so poignant is that the film doesn't rely on classic Hollywood emotions and patterns to instill a sense of feeling in the audience, but instead levels it down and shows us a very factual, very real-life struggle on screen.  There's no crescendo where we see Nic running down a road into his waiting father's arms, or bedside confession from David saying how he wished he could've been the father Nic needed, but rather there's small moments of hope followed by crushing defeat; cautious optimism quickly followed by heartbreaking sadness.  Much like how people deal with addiction in real life - along with their families, who serve as collateral damage - "Beautiful Boy" is muted in its Hollywood antics and rather explodes on screen with real emotional depth and the work of two extremely talented actors who are at the top of their games.  Basically, it's a film that will stick with you long after it ends.

The Summary:
Balancing the talent of two Oscar-worthy performances, "Beautiful Boy" shies away from cliched Hollywood gimmicks and instead focuses solely on a family's struggle through addiction, and all the good, bad, and downright ugly moments in between.

The Score: A+