Beautiful Boy Review

 

 Greetings everybody! It's been some time…. Today I was thinking of talking about a film I've watched at a similar time with a friend, called "Beautiful Boy". However, before starting, I'd like to give a trigger warning. This review contains specifies of drug abuse, so, if you feel in any way uncomfortable reading about something similar, you may want to skip this one. Take care! :)

 Ok, with that out of the way, let’s begin. From what I know, the film may be based on a real life story, but it is basically about the chaotic situation that a drug addict and his family have to go through. The film presents all the ups and downs of this journey, showing how Nic Sheff struggles to battle with his addiction and how the use of these substances has turned him into an almost unrecognizable person.  

                

Here Timothée Chalamet stars as the main character and, the Office's famous actor, Steve Carell plays Nic's dad. Most of the cast offered really good performances, obviously Timothée shining through as usual. I must say tho, Steve Carell wasn't as good. I feel like this film was just a bit too serious for him. This man was made for comedy. When he was yelling or upset I couldn't take him seriously. Carell’s voice is inherently comedic. However the rest of the time he was okay. I liked that he embodied Nic's father, Dave, as more of a calm person. 

Now, that we are transitioning into the characters’ section, I really appreciated the writer’s choice to make Dave a very thoughtful and kind person that was willing to give everything up for his son. Why? Because, while everything was going downhill, we could see how this relaxed and undisturbed persona started decomposing in front of all the stress and challenges he faced. It's just an interesting process and hits home for everyone that has dealt with these kinds of situations, in which we try helping people that can't actually be helped. I can say from experience that the change in Dave’s attitude, in this context, was very accurate.

Nic was also fascinating and I could relate to his feelings of emptiness and worthlessness. The moment he said that he had lived just in black and white until he discovered colors through drugs, was very meaningful to me. I don't like sharing personal things on the internet, but I can pin point exactly how that feels like. Maybe people might criticize the writers because they didn't exactly specify what was the reason behind his use of drugs, but I say this choice is brilliant. It’s up to interpretation. My take on it is that Nic was so good at what he was doing and his parents supported him so much that everything became too perfect and there weren’t anymore challenges. Therefore, he started feeling like he was living life without doing anything, practically without actually living. It’s similar to how us, everyday persons, create our own problems, at times, just to escape this boring void that is life. Nic's way of coping and solution is absolutely damaging, but his experiences made me realize very deep things. So, maybe others also resonated with what he feels, on top of his drug addiction.

The rest of the characters are not as interesting, but they feel human so I don't have what to criticize, nor to prize. Unfortunately though... here they come.... my critiques. In my opinion, the pacing of the first part of the movie feels very awkward and odd. It's disorienting, you can't understand what's going on and in what point in time we are. The choice to add all those flashbacks with young Nic played by Jack Dylan Grazer were... just useless. Don't get me wrong, I love Grazer with all my heart and I think that if he had been chosen to play Nic's adult self, he would have been amazing, but the introduction of 12-years-old Nic is not actually relevant to the story. Also, the cinematography is pretty uninteresting. Yes, the film looks good, yet its aesthetics are the same as any other film's nowadays, there's no personality in the film making. However, maybe, this is only a reflection of my taste, I like more creative, fun and personal cinematographic styles.

This is kind of all. Oh, the last thing I want to say is that the soundtrack of this movie is… just freakiiinggg amazing. I love it so much. They didn't get that wrong, they took the opportunities and ran with them. Excellent music, buddy, well done.

Finally, I liked this movie a lot, despite all my issues with it, and I recommend “Beautiful Boy” to everyone interested in films with psychological themes. Maybe some people wouldn't like it because it's slowed paced, but I enjoyed it for what it was.