BEAUTIFUL BOY – Review

TimothŽe Chalamet as Nic Sheff and Steve Carell as David Scheff star in BEAUTIFUL BOY. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios

Addiction is an issue that seems to touch everyone in some way, directly or in directly, through family or friends. In BEAUTIFUL BOY, Timothee Chalamet gives a heart-wrenching performance as a teen who goes from alcohol to meth despite being a good student with a promising future and the support of his loving father, played by Steve Carrell. Based on dual memoirs by the father, David Sheff, a freelance writer, and his son Nic, BEAUTIFUL BOY takes us on the harrowing roller coaster ride of addiction, recovery and relapse, as this family goes through the steps of secrecy, denial, treatment and dashed dreams.

Timothee Chalamet, who many audience may know from his Oscar-nominated role in last year’s CALL ME BY YOUR NAME or his role in LADY BIRD, plays Nic Sheff, a bright boy from a financially-comfortable, loving family. Nic seems to have everything going for him yet he falls into addiction. Raised by his father (Carrell) and stepmother Karen (Maura Tierney) after his parent’s divorce when he was young, Nic lives in an idyllic home in the woods outside San Francisco, where his younger brother and sister play in the sprinkler and his artist step mother paints. His father is proud that his son has been accepted by every college where he applied, so he is taken aback when his son hints that he might not want to go to college. Angrily arguing, son Nic drops the subject and resumes his pleasant facade.

Flemish director Felix van Groeningen has a rare gift in having two memoirs to draw on for this drama, his first in English. In exploring this family’s journey through addiction. BEAUTIFUL BOY is able to present both the father’s viewpoint and his son’s view of this experience, which the director does by shifting focus from one to the other. Early on, Carrell’s David is focused on how close he and his son are, reinforced in a series of flashbacks to Nic’s childhood, and his disbelief that there could be something going on with him of which he was not aware. Reading Nic’s journals provides a startling wake-up call and insight on his son’s inner growth and buried turmoil, something any parent might note.

Nic’s mother, played by Amy Ryan, is involved in her son’s life but David is the primary parent. While David seems a loving parent, his tendency to bossiness, to argue and criticize crops up frequently in his dealing with both his ex-wife and with son Nic. Nic responds by shutting down, and diffusing his father’s pressure with a charming smile and seeming acquiescence.

Director van Groeningen’s drama offers plenty of insights on how this kind of tragedy can happen in any family, even a loving one that seems to being doing everything right. Likewise, Nic seems like a kid unlike to seek refuge in drugs. A talented writer and artist, he is involved in school activities and seems on a good life path, yet Nic progresses from drinking with friends to experimenting with various drugs. When he gets to meth, Nic writes in his journal that “the world went from black and white to Technicolor.” Instantly, it becomes his drug of choice, with disastrous results for everyone around him. It takes David a while to comprehend what is happening with his son, but he is tenacious in his attempts to rescue his son.

Anyone who has encountered addiction first hand knows rescue has to come from within the person addicted, and family and friends can merely help. BEAUTIFUL BOY explores with honesty and realism the various aspects of addiction and this family’s attempt to cope with it. This is not an easy film to watch, particularly for those more directly touched by the subject, but the fine performances and fact-based story, from two viewpoints, gives the film a compelling strength.

The cast is particularly good, with supporting roles played by Kaitlyn Dever as Nic’s girlfriend Lauren and Timothy Hutton as a therapist.

Where the film often falls short is in its heavy-handed score, including the classic blues song St. James Infirmary and the odd insertion of Sunrise, Sunset from “Fiddler on the Roof.” The music is sometimes jarring and damps down any moments of hopefulness.

Nic and his family go through many of the awful experiences of addiction – with bouts of rehab, relapse, brushes with overdose,deceit and denial, and enabling behavior, although, unlike many, Nic seems to avoid serious involvement with law enforcement. Nic’s addiction divides the family, with some wanting to distance themselves and others doing too much.

Timothee Chalamet is outstanding in this difficult role. No matter who far Nic sinks into this whole, Chalamet retains a certain level of our sympathy for his pain and powerless against the drug. Some scenes between him and Carrell are simply heart-rending, as we see both the gulf of understanding between them and the love that wants to bridge it.

This is a worthy subject but a hard film to watch, and it does not end with the most positive note, since recovery is a long process. Chalamet with likely be a name mentioned for awards this coming season, as his performance confirms the depth of his talent, and his performance alone is one reason to take in this true-story drama.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars