After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son Nic, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Beautiful Boy captures the raw intensity of drug addiction and a beautiful family bond. "Once an addict, always an addict". A phrase I used to hear quite regularly, and one that I used to adhere to. The feeling of obsession or addiction is one that is uncontrollable, with drugs being a major contributing factor to untimely deaths in this current society. David and Nic Sheff are two real individuals, father and son, who have battled through the turbulent force of addiction. Within this harrowing story, Nic's uncontrollable desire for crystal meth is damaging both his physicality and his mentality. His father is unable to help him, despite his best efforts. In the end, he simply watches his son slowly kill himself. The film references a structure called "The 3 C's" which is aimed towards the parents. They are not the cause of this addition, they cannot control it and they are unable to cure it. Parents automatically assist their offspring, it's the paternal instincts within all of us. So for David to eventually realise that he must not help his son makes for an emotional conclusion that, fortunately thanks to a well-written screenplay, does not resort to melodrama. Much like its fragmented narrative structure, the story often repeats itself. Nic consumes high volumes of meth, requires assistance, goes to rehab and eventually relapses. But it consistently felt engaging thanks to the topic that is being addressed. It's not 'Trainspotting' where it almost glorifies drug consumption to a certain extent, it's far more hard-hitting. The plot is told through the father's perspective which allows the characters to become more personable. As if looking through a window into a fragile family on the brink of witnessing the self-destruction of a member they love. It's touching, yet often depressing.
A family-orientated story can only be as powerful as its cast. Chalamet was outstanding and continues to grow as an actor. He is able to show emotional vulnerability and instability through simple facial expressions, but it is the confrontations with his father that truly felt captivated. He was able to battle against Carell, an already established actor, and come out on top. Also the drug injection scenes, although hard to watch, were very well acted. Carell plays a stoic figure, a father who must stay strong for his family. I've read criticism towards Carell being miscast, but I disagree. Aside from a few scenes where he overacted to laughable results, he played a character I instantly connected with. The lack of emotion means that any scenes where he does break down, give off even more power. I would've liked more inclusion of Nic's mother and David's partner, but respect that it solely revolves around their own relationship. The soundtrack however, I had problems with. It was unnecessarily loud and drowned out many of the more emotionally charged scenes. The song choices were generic and feel like they came out of a feel-good drama such as 'The Kids Are All Right'. Fortunately though, this beautifully told story about an unattractive topic is one that contains a lot of heart. Subtle direction, powerful performances and an engaging script. "Everything. Everything".
