Beautiful Boy
Everyone is waiting and watching to see what young Timothee Chalamet does next. He was in two of the best pictures of last year (Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird), which also happened to be my two favorite movies of 2017. Now he comes back in a film which is monumental because its a reunion of the one true pair on The Office, Michael Scott and Holly Flax. I liked this film more than I thought it was because I feel like its a truly accurate portrayal of drug addiction and the impact it has on loved ones. It’s also a timely piece because the drug epidemic and mental illness are prevalent today.
The film is based on the true story of a father and son who have a strained relationship because of the son’s drug addiction. The son is addicted to crystal meth and has moments where he attempts to recover but relapses. The father tries his best to understand and seek out help but becomes frustrated by the process and the mental toll his son’s well being takes on him. The film also flashes between different stages in the pairs life and covers a range of the dynamic in the relationship.
The performances were good as expected. Its a little odd hearing Steve Carell yelling and getting angry, I guess I’m just too used to him in a comedic capacity so it feels weird to see him emote so seriously. I felt like the film was such a real and harrowing portrayal of a person suffering from a drug addiction disorder. I am a substance abuse counselor in my non film reviewing life, so I definitely can attest to the realness of addiction and how the lines of it being a disease and a choice. Its not easy to quit and its so easy and common to fall into relapse.
I don’t think the film shows off the emotional connection between the characters very successfully which is weird. However, I think overall the film is an impressive tale of the ups and downs (mostly downs) of substance abuse and the wide range of effect it has. On a side note, I would have been mad if the film didn’t utilize John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy and it is safe to say that crisis was averted. That’s about as big a spoiler as I’ll ever give in any of my reviews.
7/10
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