Beautiful Boy - Review
Director: Felix Van Groeningen
Cast: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever
Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy stars Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet as a father and son whose relationship is pushed to its breaking
point by Nic's spiralling drug addiction. It's a very sensitive subject matter and the viewing experience proves to be suitably wrought and resolute.
18 year-old Nic Sheff (Chalamet) is a creative and talented student with aspirations of being a writer. However, when Nic's alcohol and crystal meth addiction seizes hold of his life and threatens to destroy it, his father David (Carell) does whatever he can to save his son and heal his family.
Following on from his star-making year in 2017 with Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, 23 year-old Timothee Chalamet delivers yet another stellar performance. Even though we seldom see Chalamet as a sober Nic, flashbacks and the actor's nuances leave us with the impression that he is an intelligent and spirited young man with every opportunity in the palm of his hand. This makes the character's absorption into meth addiction even more devastating as we, along with Nic's family, know that he is capable of so much more. Like any teenager, Nic insists that he has a wise head on his young shoulders but in his most desolate of times, he finds the strength in his father to continue. Chalamet is effortlessly naturalistic, never overplaying emotional scenes or wringing them until they no longer hold any impact - we feel every impulse, every lurch of desperation. The young actor has already accumulated a slew of Best Supporting Actor nominations for his performance and a second Oscar nomination is within his grasp.
Carell also gives a valiant performance as a father despairingly trying to hold his family together and save his son from self-destruction. The film is told largely through David's perspective so, as an audience, we also endure his frustration and heartbreak. He diligently researches addiction in an effort to understand his son's affliction but the facts and figures don't ease the ache of watching your loved on descend deeper and deeper into a damaging compulsion. Beautiful Boy plays very much as a two-hander as Nic's mother and step-mother (Amy Ryan and Maura Tierney respectively) are severely underdeveloped. Nic's mother assumes the role of the absent parent who periodically intervenes whilst his step-mother's purpose is to provide passive support to David. Although, Tierney makes the most of her thankless role and her presence is heavily involved when she pursues Nic as he flees the family home in the film's most moving sequence.
Director Felix Van Groeningen produces two standout performances from his leading men but he also opts for some creative choices that effects the film's tonal cohesion. Ill-suited music begins to creep into several scenes that ultimately transforms the mood that had previously been established and the non-linear timeline, while providing juxtaposition and showing the chasm that develops between Nic and David, is often confusing.
A truthful and bruising drama about drug addiction and the frailty of family and parenthood, Beautiful Boy is a raw and honest ordeal that occasionally comes undone with its jarring and haphazard assembly.
EB
Cast: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever
Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy stars Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet as a father and son whose relationship is pushed to its breakingpoint by Nic's spiralling drug addiction. It's a very sensitive subject matter and the viewing experience proves to be suitably wrought and resolute.
18 year-old Nic Sheff (Chalamet) is a creative and talented student with aspirations of being a writer. However, when Nic's alcohol and crystal meth addiction seizes hold of his life and threatens to destroy it, his father David (Carell) does whatever he can to save his son and heal his family.
Following on from his star-making year in 2017 with Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, 23 year-old Timothee Chalamet delivers yet another stellar performance. Even though we seldom see Chalamet as a sober Nic, flashbacks and the actor's nuances leave us with the impression that he is an intelligent and spirited young man with every opportunity in the palm of his hand. This makes the character's absorption into meth addiction even more devastating as we, along with Nic's family, know that he is capable of so much more. Like any teenager, Nic insists that he has a wise head on his young shoulders but in his most desolate of times, he finds the strength in his father to continue. Chalamet is effortlessly naturalistic, never overplaying emotional scenes or wringing them until they no longer hold any impact - we feel every impulse, every lurch of desperation. The young actor has already accumulated a slew of Best Supporting Actor nominations for his performance and a second Oscar nomination is within his grasp.
Carell also gives a valiant performance as a father despairingly trying to hold his family together and save his son from self-destruction. The film is told largely through David's perspective so, as an audience, we also endure his frustration and heartbreak. He diligently researches addiction in an effort to understand his son's affliction but the facts and figures don't ease the ache of watching your loved on descend deeper and deeper into a damaging compulsion. Beautiful Boy plays very much as a two-hander as Nic's mother and step-mother (Amy Ryan and Maura Tierney respectively) are severely underdeveloped. Nic's mother assumes the role of the absent parent who periodically intervenes whilst his step-mother's purpose is to provide passive support to David. Although, Tierney makes the most of her thankless role and her presence is heavily involved when she pursues Nic as he flees the family home in the film's most moving sequence.
Director Felix Van Groeningen produces two standout performances from his leading men but he also opts for some creative choices that effects the film's tonal cohesion. Ill-suited music begins to creep into several scenes that ultimately transforms the mood that had previously been established and the non-linear timeline, while providing juxtaposition and showing the chasm that develops between Nic and David, is often confusing.
A truthful and bruising drama about drug addiction and the frailty of family and parenthood, Beautiful Boy is a raw and honest ordeal that occasionally comes undone with its jarring and haphazard assembly.
EB
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