Beautiful Boy: An Effective, If Borderline Mawkish Addiction Story
Directed by Felix Van Groeningen
Starring Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan
During movie awards seasons every year, there always seem to be several that are released that just scream for prestige and accolades, and Beautiful Boy is no exception to this rule. Featuring great performances from both of its lead actors, an emotionally intense narrative, and a score that teeters the line between maudlin and tender, it’s a film that by its very nature insists its merits. I can’t really blame Amazon Studios or the cast and crew for this insistence though, as Amazon have proven with Manchester by the Sea, You Were Never Really Here, and The Lost City of Z that they have the insight and willingness to develop great films worthy of such accolades. While I don’t believe Beautiful Boy to be quite on this level of cinematic achievement, it is a good film with great performances, even if the screenplay and directing choices don’t always work.
Beautiful Boy tells an addiction story we’ve seen several times before: father David Sheff (Steve Carell) consistently tries to help his son Nic ( Timothée Chalamet) overcome his drug addiction. David constantly tries different methods of helping Nic curb this affliction, whether it involves placing him in the next rehab facility or encouraging him to go to college, or even having a family stay-cation starring him as a guest of honor for his often-prodigal son. Both Carell and Chalamet carry this film on their performances alone, and while Carell is great, Chalamet shows far greater amounts of range in his portrayal, showing further evidence of his bright future as an actor. Carell simply acts brooding, dour and sad throughout most of the film, but his character’s burdens remain relevant and understandable. Nic’s scenes do alternate between hope and hopelessness, though, and I enjoyed the film far more when it focused on his perspective, as the film provides about a 60/40 ratio of perspective between Carell’s and Chalamet’s characters. Their acting in their scenes together as well as their scenes of just isolated, introverted suffering are generally among the best and most impactful scenes in the film.
The screenplay does tend to drag during the middle sequences, but I never minded the slow pacing too much. The film consistently displays the “relapse as part of recovery” doctrine of drug addiction, as Nic consistently switches between full on drug induced mania to lethargic, ashamed sobriety. The portrayal of addiction is extremely well done despite the slow pace and the emotionally manipulative story choices. Sometimes the musical cues of the score and the cliche’d nature of certain scenes felt too on the nose for the film’s own good. Of course there is a scene with Chalamet driving, looking out in the distance, with Heart of Gold playing in the background. Of course there is a scene involving someone close to Nic suffering a horrifying drug-related incident and serving as one of several potential wake up calls for him. And of course, there is a scene with Carell realizing, as many Americans often do at some point, how under-budgeted and under-managed our health care system can be. These scenes are commonplace in films of this ilk, and I wouldn’t have minded them so much if they were directed or scored better, but the technical aspects of the film often fail in providing investment in them. The cinematography is pretty standard and the score proves mainly generic, but there are a few tense instances of bass and dissonance that offset the often sugary audio. Thankfully the acting is always just good enough to keep your interest and make you care just enough about both men to enjoy the narrative.
There are many times where Beautiful Boy feels like it is trying too hard to be sentimental. Drug addiction is indeed a serious and devastating topic to discuss, and this film does do a good job of discussing this…it just doesn’t do too original of a job doing it. While it’s not necessarily artistically stylish or original, it does succeed in providing an effective cinematic canvas in portraying great actors that make you care for the characters when the screenplay often does them a disservice. Carell and Chalamet succeed with what they’re given, however, so I do recommend going out and seeing this film as their performances are worth the price of a ticket alone. It may be an Oscar-baity affair, but it’s a good film despite this.
Verdict: See in Theaters-Matinee
Disclaimer: I review movies based on a 5-tier scale: See in Theaters-Full Price, See in Theaters-Matinee, Rental, Wait for Streaming, and Skip It. If a film is released straight to VOD or streaming, the rating will simply change to either Stream It or Skip It. If you disagree with this review, I encourage you to watch the film and as always, make up your own mind about it. Am I wrong? Am I spot on? Let me know in the comments below!
