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01/16/2019 11:01 PMAs a teenager, Nic Sheff began experimenting with marijuana and then quickly moved on to trying nearly every other illegal drug. He managed to do this for years, without his father ever realizing what was happening. It wasn’t until Nic had already become a full-blown methamphetamine addict that his father David became aware of Nic’s dire situation.
That story—originally told in memoirs, Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff—is now a Prime Original Movie, Beautiful Boy, available online and in select theaters.
The story chronicles the family’s despondency while dealing with Nic’s drug addiction.
Starring Steve Carell (Foxcatcher and TV’s The Office) and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird), Beautiful Boy is also the first English language film from director Felix van Groeningen (The Misfortunates and The Broken Circle Breakdown).
It came as a major shock for David Sheff to realize that he had been in the dark about his son’s habitual drug use for the more than two years that it had been occurring. Nic was always a great student, a gifted athlete, and a promising young writer. Plus, David and Nic’s relationship had always been a very strong, loving one. For Nic to have fallen into the role of meth addict seemed more than just improbable to David. He was destroyed by the realization and attempted everything imaginable to try to help his son.
The cycle of drug use, rehabilitation, and relapse is depicted in achingly realistic fashion. Nic’s loved ones are left feeling helpless as he repeats his past mistakes over and over again. While this repetition is what is needed to draw an accurate depiction of Nic’s drug use, the repetition shown through flashbacks in the film does make for a very long feel to the film, which runs over two hours.
Carell long ago proved that he can do drama just as well as he does comedy and he shines in this film. He fills the role of a beaten-down father hell-bent on helping his child beautifully. Chalamet is brilliant in his role of drug-addicted son. In fact, this role earned him a Golden Globe nomination and Oscar buzz, as well.
The soundtrack adds to the heartache and helps drives the film. It is filled with songs of teen angst by Nirvana, desperation by Neil Young, and, of course, a father’s adoration of his son in the film’s title track “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon.
Overall, Beautiful Boy is just as sad to view as one would imagine a film depicting a young man’s drug addiction to be. Its repetition makes it feel never-ending, which is a good tool to highlight this family’s struggle, but a poor tool for holding viewers’ interest. The acting is superb and so is the soundtrack.
In Addition:
One noteworthy series worth checking out after its huge success at the Golden Globes is American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which just began streaming on Netflix after airing earlier in the year on cable TV. The FX series chronicles the morning that Versace was killed outside of his home in 1997 and the impact it had on those left behind. The series picked up the Golden Globe for Best Limited Series for Television and Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series for Television, plus it had several other nominations.
The Netflix Original film Close begins streaming on Friday, Jan. 18. In the thriller, Noomi Rapace (The Drop and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) plays Sam, a highly trained bodyguard assigned to protect a rich, young heiress from her would-be kidnappers despite the heiress’ insistence that she doesn’t need protection.
The Netflix Original film Polar begins streaming on Friday, Jan. 25. In the film, the world’s top assassin known as The Black Kaiser (Mads Mikkelsen of The Hunt and Doctor Strange) attempts to settle into a peaceful retirement, but is forced back to his old ways when his former boss comes after him and involves his unsuspecting neighbor (Vanessa Hudgens of The Princess Switch and Beastly).