'Beautiful Boy' Review

Beautiful Boy chronicles the inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction. When Nicolas' meth addiction threatens to destroy him, his desperate father does whatever he can to save his son.

Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from real-life father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy is directed by Felix van Groeningen and features a screenplay co-written by van Groeningen and Luke Davies. Van Groeningen immediately immerses the audience into the dual perspectives of Nic and David through non-linear storytelling as he cycles between flashbacks and the present day. Occasionally, this made the continuity and chronology of the film a tad confusing, but it amounts to merely being an insubstantial flaw once you figure out when the said scene takes place. Between the soundtrack and score, there were certain songs and musical cues utilized which didn't quite fit the scene they accompanied. However, the soundtrack overall has an excellent collection of songs on it, and I've become obsessed with John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" in particular. Otherwise, I really didn't find any other issues.

Beautiful Boy may be a little messy here and there in regards to structure, but I believe that's meant to be an intentional reflection of Nic's unfortunate predicament. Having never personally experienced anything like this, I can't quite vouch for whether the film's depiction of addition is authentic or not, but it sure felt real from start-to-finish. Believe it or not, nothing in Beautiful Boy seemed overdramatized for the sake of being more cinematic. The film felt honest and down-to-earth regarding its central tragedy in ways I wasn't expecting. To be quite honest, I'm not sure I've ever been more emotionally-invested watching a film in the theater before. I cried during virtually every other scene because the events shown were brimming with raw emotion due to the very nature of the narrative's heartbreaking situation and the exceptional acting on display. While some may consider Beautiful Boy emotionally manipulative, I feel otherwise. To me, the emotional beats were earned and felt genuine on account of a layered story. David feels guilty for partially enabling his son's addiction, and watching him struggle to become more accountable while his son descends into the cycle of addition was devastating, to say the least. Thanks to the flashbacks mentioned above, the father-son relationship feels even more established, which in turn enhances the eventual emotional beats and concurrent drama.

If one thing's to be said about Beautiful Boy though, it's that Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell give career-best performances. Chalamet digs in deep to exhibit an honest portrayal of an introspective addict while Carell exemplifies a caring, supportive father. His emotions settle just under the surface, and it's gut-wrenching to merely watch David struggle to maintain composure around other family members when you can just tell he's ready to break out in tears. The heart-to-heart conversations between the two actors will absolutely obliterate your heart in addition to showcasing the actor's immense range. Less prominent in the ensemble, Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan each put forth a pair of strong performances in spite of the film's attention primarily going towards Carell and Chalamet.

All in all, Beautiful Boy is a poignant, tearjerking cautionary tale about the perils of addiction. Not always pretty, but certain to tug at your heartstrings with a subtle sincerity and the force of at least five thousand men.

Film Assessment: A