Beautiful Boy 2018

     This film is based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from David and Nic Sheff.  David was married previously to Vicki and they have a son Nic.  David has remarried and his wife is Karen Barbour.  They have two younger children, Daisy and Jasper Sheff.  Nic has been having trouble with drugs, he prefers crystal meth and he’s decided not to attend college.  He’s also been using cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana and alcohol.  Nic has been to a rehab clinic and he went to a halfway house.

     This is a very intense film and based on true stories.  I could feel the extreme emotions felt by Nic’s parents.  You want to do what is best for your son but it sometimes requires a refusal to give into what they want from you.  They want money but it’s not for the reason they say they are telling you.  If you give them money, it will just go into their arm or up their nose.  Can you send them to college or will the freedom be too much for them to handle??  You want to always be there for them but a time comes when you have to turn your back for them to get better.  Or the other side of the coin is they not get better and possibly die.  4* (I really liked this movie)

120 min, Bio directed by Felix can Groeningen with Steve Carell, Maura Tierney, Jack Dylan Grazer, Oakley Bull, Christian Convery, Timothee Chalamet, Amy Aquino, Carlton Wilborn, Stefanie Scott, Marypat Farrell, Timothy Hutton, Amy Forsyth.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 69% critic 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Rojer Ebert 2*, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Empire Online 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 62 out of 100 with 45 critic 7.1 out of 10 with 58 reviews, Washington Post 2* out of 4*, Amazon Video 4.2* out of 5* with 476 reviews, 

Special Note:  Timothee Chalamet lost 25 pounds for his role as Nic Sheff.  He worked with a consultant and a doctor on set to ensure his acting as a drug addict was realistic and authentic.  I thought Timothee wore looser clothing to portray having a thinner frame?  David Sheff looks through a very dark book of drawings by Nic Sheff.  The book was actually drawn by Nic’s real life half brother Jasper Sheff.  The title comes from John Lennon’s song Beautiful Boy.  Co-screenwriter Luke Davies is a recovering addict.  During the 1980’s he was dependent on heroin and this led him on a path of self-destruction.  He turned himself around in 1990 and he wrote of his experiences in the novel Candy published in mid-1998.  This novel was made into a film in 2006 with Davis as the co-writer of the screenplay.  Nic Sheff has written the book Tweak and David Sheff has written Beautiful Boy: a Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction.