Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet star as father and son in the new addiction drama from belgian director Felix Van Groeningen
After the Oscar nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown and Belgica, director Felix Van Groeningen returns with Beautiful Boy, inspired by the real story of former drug addict Nic Sheff. The film premiered at Rome Film Festival on Sunday, October 21, after its international debut in Toronto.
Based on the memoir of the same name by journalist David Sheff and the book Tweak, by his son, the film chronicles the heartbreaking experience of a family coping with addiction over many years. Written and directed by belgian filmmaker Felix Van Groeningen, Beautiful Boy stars Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell in the leading roles, as well as Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan and Timothy Hutton.
We know from facts that Nic Sheff started using drugs when he was 12. Van Groeningen’s film begins a little bit later, when the protagonist tries crystal methamphetamine, the drug that will destroy him. There’s no appearent reason for Nic to escape his real life: he’s a talented waterpolo player, all his applications to college have been accepted and he’s living the typical Northern California life with his father, his stepmother and his half-brothers in a beautiful house. But something’s missing: his passions for drawing and literature are not enough, he spends most of the time in his room and his father foresees his teenage alienation coming.
As David realizes what is really going on, he persuades Nic to enter a detox program: his son spends some weeks in a rehab facility and then he disappears. For the first time. There are other escapes and other attempts to save Nic’s life, but both father and son will fail many times before they walk the straight and narrow.
The idea of a relapse-recovery spiral seems to be the foundation of the narrative (because that’s what Nic’s youth was about) but despite Carell and Chalamet excellent performances, the film is trapped in repetition.
Beautiful Boy is also really focused on the relationship between David and Nic and, sometimes, the other characters literally stay in the background. Van Groeningen also merges the two perspectives but, sometimes, the final effect gets confusing.
There’s honesty and spontaneity in Beautiful Boy and also some emotional moments to remember, but everything else is very essential. Maybe too much.
