‘When I discovered drugs my world went from black and white to Technicolor...’
Addiction is a subject that automatically lends itself to cinema. Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – these are some of the most iconic movies of their era, all of them deal with addiction of one form or another. As America is currently in the deathly grip of both an opioid epidemic and a crystal meth problem, there have been numerous projects in recent years that have grappled with these twin issues. The problem with Beautiful Boy is that it does nothing to stand out from the crowd…
Nic (Timothée Chalamet), severely affected by his parents’ divorce, turns to drugs as a means to escape. This leads to all of the usual things. Stealing from his family home. Hanging out with low lives. Going missing. Failed rehab attempts. I appreciate that this is based on an inspirational true story, and anyone that manages to beat addiction deserves praise and respect, but this really is drug addiction 101. We have seen many of these scenes before and delivered with much more originality and emotional resonance. Indeed, Kaitlyn Dever, who appears here as Nic’s doomed girlfriend and drug buddy Lauren, has herself recently starred in Dopesick, a far superior drug addiction tale, albeit one delivered through the medium of television rather than cinema.
Elsewhere, Steve Carell tries his best in the role of patriarch, but I never really bought the father-son bond presented between Carell and Chalamet, and the latter also delivers a performance that feels strangely flat.
Whilst Beautiful Boy has some affecting moments, it’s too predictable, too derivative, and too often it feels like a number of people involved are simply going through the motions. Skip it.