• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Forces of Geek

we like pop culture.

  • Home
  • FOG!
    • About FOG!
    • Contributors
    • Submissions
  • Pop Culture
    • Columns/Features
    • Interviews
    • News
    • Press Releases
    • Special Features
  • Reviews
    • Books/Comics
    • Clothing/Misc.
    • Merchandise / Collectibles
    • Movies/Blu-ray/DVD
    • Television
    • Toys and Games
  • Interests
    • Art/Collectibles
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Gadgets/Tech
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Television
    • Toys and Games
  • Contests
    • Screening
    • Giveaway

‘Beautiful Boy’ (review)

October 5, 2018 by Sharon Knolle

ShareTweet

Produced by Dede Gardner,
Jeremy Kleiner, Brad Pitt

Screenplay by Luke Davies,
Felix Van Groeningen

Based on Tweak: Growing Up on
Methamphetamines
by Nic Sheff and
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey
Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff

Directed by Felix Van Groeningen
Starring: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet,
Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever,
Andre Royo,
Timothy Hutton,
LisaGay Hamilton, Stefanie Scott

Call Me By Your Name star Timothée Chalamet is predictably excellent as a teenage meth addict in this based-on-a-true-story tale of addiction. Unfortunately, the far-too-lengthy, often tedious film leaves him stranded. In realistically depicting the cycle of abuse (“relapse is part of recovery,” we hear over and over), the film wears out the audience.

The film begins with journalist David Sheff (Steve Carell) talking to a drug expert about his son, not as a writer, but as a father.

He’s worried, but calm and that’s the note Carell plays for about three-quarters of the film. We get that he’s trying to keep it together, but that keeps the audience from getting emotionally involved in his struggle to save his son, Nick (Chalamet).

For most of the film, he’s just Steve Carell with a beard. We see him Googling meth addiction and writing about his “beautiful boy,” but that’s academic. We don’t see his anguish until the scene where he breaks down after finally telling Nick over the phone he can’t come home after the last disastrous visit. It’s a powerful moment. I just wish the film hadn’t withheld the father’s despair for so long.

In trying to avoid sensationalizing Nick’s addiction, the film ends up muting the story unnecessarily. Chalamet proves, once again, what a great actor he is, with subtle shadings of each stage of addiction. Maybe the film would have been more engaging if told from Nick’s point of view?

Throughout the film, David is constantly flashing back to earlier, happier scenes of a younger Nick, a choice that adds unnecessary length to the film and that keeps us from connecting with the characters in the present.

The music, which is mostly dad’s favorite band Nirvana at first, also takes several pointed missteps: The overly sentimental “Sunrise, Sunset” song from Fiddler on the Roof is used in complete earnestness at one point. And a scene where Nick overdoses is overlaid with a cringe-worthy angelic chorus.

I couldn’t help thinking of how much better a troubled father-son relationship was depicted in the Oscar-winning (but still underrated) Ordinary People. And just then Timothy Hutton (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as a suicidal teen) shows up as the addiction specialist.

It may well be that Chalamet is nominated again and may even win. It’s just a shame the film doesn’t match his performance.

I think my favorite moment in the whole film belongs to LisaGay Hamilton, who only has one scene as a mother who lost her daughter to drugs: In one heartbroken speech to her support group, she brings a depth of emotion that’s sorely missing from the rest of the movie.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Movies, Movies/Blu-ray/DVD, Reviews Tagged: Addiction, Movie Review, Movies/DVD

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’ Arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, Digital, and On Demand January 21 December 13, 2019
  • Dynamite Launches New Imprint for Prose Novels – Dynamite Books! December 13, 2019
  • ‘Batman Curse of the White Knight #5’ (review) December 13, 2019
  • DC Celebrates Robin’s 80th Anniversary in 100-Page One Shot December 13, 2019
  • ‘Detective Comics #1017’ (review) December 13, 2019

INTERVIEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

  • FOG! Chats ‘Farmland’ With Rob Guillory
  • FOG! Takes In The HUMAN BODY THEATER With MARIS WICKS!
  • FOG! Chats With Hope Nicholson About Her Kickstarter, ‘Gothic Tales of Haunted Love’
  • The Most Awkward Interview Ever: Promoting CADDYSHACK With Bill, Ted, Rodney and Chevy
  • ‘FIST OF JUSTICE’ Kickstarter Brings Old School Superhero Back With Style
Online Casino Betway
League Podcast

Footer

Connect with FOG!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

DISCLAIMER: Forces of Geek is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions. All posts are submitted by volunteer contributors who have agreed to our Code of Conduct. FOG! will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content.

Copyright © 2019 — Forces of Geek • All rights reserved.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.