Beautiful Boy: Movie Review

Beautiful Boy is an emotionally intense story that depicts the pain, frustration, guilt, fear and denial thatt are often experienced by addicts and the people who love them. Based on the memoirs of a real-life father and son, Beautiful Boy tells the story primarily from the perspective of of David Sheff (Steve Carell), a father who deeply loves his son and wants to save him from his addiction to crystal meth (preferably without too many people finding out that his son has a drug problem). David’s son (Nic), played by Timothee Chalamet, has always had an interest in writing, and his father’s expectations are that he will go to college and follow in his father’s footsteps.

Despite clear signs that Nic has a substance abuse problem, David has been in denial. Even when faced with the evidence, he still managed to minimize the issue, comparing it to his own experimentation in younger years. Minimizing and denial are often the methods used to cope with loved ones who have substance abuse issues. Nic is a high school aged kid who has been experimenting with an array of drugs for several years, and at this point his life revolves around using. After David realizes that Nic has a drug problem, David’s life begins to totally revolve around saving Nic.

David pursuades Nic to go to treatment, only to receive a call from the facility stating that his son relapsed and left; he was also told that relapse is often a part of recovey, which is a concept David is not yet able to grasp.

The disease of addiction continues to wreak havvoc on Nic physically, but David is emotionally consumed by the situation. This allows the effects of the disease to reach further and further into his family. David’s wife and children, as well as his ex-wife (Nic’s mother) are all impacted by the Nic’s addiction, and doubly impacted becaue of David’s obsession. .It is within these relationships that the disease often spreads. The cycle of addiction continues, as Nic turns to stealing from his family to support his habit, creating guilt, shame, fear, and lack off trust. This can substantially weaken, or even break, the bonds of love that were once thought to be unbreakable.

Finally, David awakens to the truth about the person his son has become. Finally, David realizes that it is possible to love someone to death, and he is doing exactly that with Ric. He also realizes that this pattern must stop, and to truly love his son, he has to do something more difficult than anything he’s ever done before. David realizes that he must let Ric go, as sometimes only through this kind of “tough love” will an addict ever get clean

Beautiful Boy as it relates to Multicultural Issues

The worldview of David Sheff and his family is starkly contrasted by the world in which his son has assimilated, and this theme is evident throughout the movie as David tries to penetrate the barrier that separates him from his son. Throughout the movie, there are flashbacks to better times, when Ric was the apple in his father’s eye.

Because of my personal history of substance abuse, I relate to Ric’s character. However, as a parent, I can hardly fathom how painful it must be to watch your child descend into this dangerous, potentially deadly culture and practice. Likewise, I feel for the family members whose lives are devastated by the disease. It is difficult and painful to think of the pain that I caused my family, and this movie brought up those kinds of feelings. Fortunately, I never had a problem with IV drug usage, but for someone who has, this movie could potentially trigger cravings. I enjoyed this movie, but I feel that some of the impact on the family was overshadowed by the intense focus on the relationship between David and Nic. This was probably unavoidable, as it was taken from David’s memoirs. Without further insight into the other key characters, the magnitude of the ramifications of addiction appears somewhat shallow.