Also on the big screen
BEAUTIFUL BOY
True-life drama. With Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet. Director: Felix van Groeningen. 16DLS. Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, this movie evokes a great variety of emotions. You’re introduced to a family battling with the drug addiction of their talented son, stepson and sibling, and the related anguish this brings.
The crux of the story is David (Carell) trying to understand why his son Nic (Chalamet from Call Me By Your Name) descended into drug addiction. Following his parents’ divorce, Nic lives with his dad and stepmom (Maura Tierney from The Affair), but visits his mother (Gone Baby Gone’s Amy Ryan), during the holidays.
Flashbacks show Nic progressing from a sweet 62 toddler to a promising teenager experimenting with drugs to a full-blown addict enslaved to a variety of chemical substances, largely the seductive crystal meth.
Carell and Golden Globe nominee Chalamet’s moving performances are enhanced by Ryan and Tierney’s earnestness. The grief accompanied by every relapse is palpable as David relentlessly struggles to help his son. David’s delving into the neurological effects of stimulants on the physiology of the brain is at the same time a source of enlightenment and despair as you’re given a glimpse of the insatiable hunger driving addicts.
Go into this armed with tissues as it’s heartwrenching to witness this family’s journey.