'Beautiful Boy' portrays realities of addiction, lacks emotional insight

Content warning: This article discusses addiction.

Addiction is the ultimate disruptor, ruining not only the lives of those who immediately suffer from it but everyone who encounters it, forever snarling life’s supposedly linear path. In “Beautiful Boy,” father David Sheff (Steve Carell) is left struggling after his successful son Nic Sheff (Timothée Chalamet) falls victim to crystal meth addiction, seeking guidance through this terribly painful process. Although the movie ultimately stumbles, it is still a well-crafted narrative about the ways in which addiction corrodes even those with all the support in the world.

Directed by Belgian filmmaker Felix Van Groeningen, “Beautiful Boy” adapts two memoirs: one by the real-life David Sheff and the other by his son Nic. The movie is portrayed largely through David’s perspective, focusing on his desperation as Nic’s addiction reverberates through his family’s life. “Beautiful Boy” opens with David seeking the advice of a drug addiction expert, and from there the story falls into its decidedly non-linear narrative.The movie is composed of flashbacks and flash-forwards, all designed to create a deeper understanding of the cycle of addiction: relapse, rehab, repeat. And repeat and repeat again. This cyclical structure breaks free of the standard three-act addiction narrative, driving home that there is no real beginning and no real end to the trauma of addiction. As the plot trudges onward, David’s optimism repeatedly crashes against the impenetrable wall of his son’s addiction, and the film itself never fully resolves, instead ending on an ambiguous but cautiously hopeful note.

The standout of “Beautiful Boy” is Chalamet, whose nuanced acting brings Nic Sheff to life, even if he is unmatched by the film’s other actors. In the talented hands of Chalamet, Nic oscillates among emotional and reticent, playful and aggressive, beautiful and broken. Even his body language is poignant, portraying a character forever toeing the line between control and chaos. Nic is elevated far above a caricature, and Chalamet makes the disjointed narrative feel authentically human, which is perhaps the film’s biggest achievement.

Carell’s acting, while also strong, fails to reach the level of Chalamet. As both a journalist by trade and a father dedicated to his son, David is committed to uncovering how to fix him, although he must come to terms with the fact that even love cannot miraculously break the cycle of addiction. While Carell’s portrayal ranges from optimism to anguish, his most serious performances veer on comedic (a la Michael Scott), and David is never as raw as Nic, but Carell’s devotion to his character is largely a success. The supporting cast is strong yet not particularly memorable: David’s second wife Karen Barbour (Maura Tierney) provides what support she can and first wife Vicki Sheff (Amy Ryan) embodies the grief of a mother who feels as much at fault for her son’s addiction as the father. They firmly establish Nic’s family as well-off with good intentions but are limited in the overarching scope of the plot and feel more like a means to an end than fleshed-out characters.

The score and cinematography of “Beautiful Boy” fall under the category of successes, with music-driven montages juxtaposing, often jarringly, against the hopeless narrative. The film is primarily centered in Marin County, Calif., where David lives, and the many stunning panoramic shots subtly contrast the inner pain of the Sheff family. Hearing melodic and beautiful songs playing over the course of the film only further contributes to a feeling of inescapable dread.

Unfortunately, the film never gets around to explaining the circumstances surrounding Nic’s addiction, and this, coupled with a failure to delve into truly emotional scenes, forces the movie to operate primarily at surface level. “Beautiful Boy” works perfectly when taken as a vignette or viewed as a snapshot of addiction, but its refusal to delve into its characters mutes the deep emotional impact it so desperately wants to impart. The movie is by no means bad, but it never reaches the lofty heights it aspires to, instead feeling trapped by its focus on unending addiction.

Despite its flaws, “Beautiful Boy” features fantastic acting and well-thought out directorial choices, telling an honest story of addiction that will appeal to even the most cold-hearted. Unfortunately, it cannot escape the stagnation that plagues its characters, and because it also offers no emotional insight or conclusive answers, it rests largely in the domain of the melodramatic instead of the truly impactful.