CHALAMET DOES IT AGAIN – ‘BEAUTIFUL BOY’ REVIEW

Hey guys! How’s it going? Today I went to see a movie I’ve been waiting to see for a long time now! I, unfortunately, couldn’t find where to watch it in London, so, I decided to go watch it whilst being in LA. As soon as I heard that Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet would both star in a drama based story on the best selling memoirs of father and son, David and Nic Sheff, I knew I would have to watch it. I really enjoyed this movie and here’s my full review on Amazon Studios’ ‘Beautiful Boy’.
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Starting off with a little bit about the plot. The movie is essentially about a teenager; Nic Sheff (Timothée Chalamet), a crystal meth addict who will stop at nothing to feed his addiction. Whilst watching the film you can see how it rips apart his family for many years and all the consequences this addiction had. His dad, David Sheff (Steve Carell) tries everything he can to help him but he ultimately realizes that it’s only up to Nic to help himself.
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One of my favorite things about this movie is the acting. If Carell and Chalamet’s relationship wasn’t as believable the whole film would never have worked in the same way. Timothée’s performance was as true and as sincere as in (if not more than in) ‘Call Me by Your Name’ (review to that movie HERE) which I also really enjoyed. I thought Chalamet would be the scene stealer but Carell is so great in his worried father role. It’s so different from the other things I’ve seen him in recently! I missed the first (I believe) five minutes or so of the movie as my dad and I arrived a tiny bit late to the theater. So, that made the film a little confusing at first. I also found myself a bit confused by the number of flashbacks they had in the movie. I really enjoyed the flashbacks during the middle/end of the movie as it showed the best moments of their lives before Nic’s meth addiction and how drastically different it is. This part was very touching. Although I was confused at parts I was still pleased with how the flashbacks turned out as a whole, it kept things going. I believe it would’ve been boring otherwise. I simply thought it was a bit too messy in the beginning and like I said, I was really confused! The flashbacks were all of Nic before his drug addiction, so, the film incorporated young actors that looked like Nic for I believe 4 of his different ages. I thought all the younger versions of Nic were extremely well cast as they looked very similar to him and they were all very good at acting. I especially liked Jack Dylan Grazer as Nic’s younger self, I wouldn’t have thought they looked similar, but, once in costume and with the same manners and tics it’s the SAME person, I swear!
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I enjoyed a few background songs from the tracks here and there but oh my. The music was all over the place, to say the least. I really feel like I heard a song a from each genre! It was to the point where it almost ruined a scene for me. I was almost laughing like who chose that song for THAT scene. The songs were still alright for most of the movie, but, I was shocked at some scene to song combinations!
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‘Beautiful Boy’ talked about a sensitive and very relevant topic, drug addiction. A sensitive topic that was well portrayed and beautifully told. Everything felt so raw and true and candid. It felt like you were with David going through what he is going through wondering where his son might be. You feel so much empathy for him. There was also no sugar coating, nothing was too exaggerated or nothing was put nicely when it came to the addiction, it was very raw. I think a movie about drug addiction was in need as it is an extremely prominent thing and should be talked about more. I think that a lot of the time we only think about the person who is addicted and not about his/her loved ones that are also affected. So, in that way, the movie was super important.
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I overall truly enjoyed watching ‘Beautiful Boy’. It wasn’t necessarily as good as I expected it to be, but, I wasn’t disappointed either. I would definitely say I learned a few things from watching it and I think you should watch it too! I give this movie a 7/10 as the acting was over the top excellent and the cinematography was great apart from some confusions and the songs.
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If you want to read more about Nic and David Sheff’s true story you can check out their books; ‘Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines’ by Nic Sheff and ‘Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction’ by David Sheff.
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P.S. If you know anyone that is addicted to drugs or his/her family members. Or even someone who is trying to get over their addiction please call for help.

Here is the crisis hotline: +1 (800) 273-8255.
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Lots of LOVE, as always,

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Tiffany Lea