Last week, my friend and I went to a small, local theater and attended a showing of Felix van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy. According to IMBD, This film was a true story based on a pair of memoirs written by a father and son David and Nic Sheff.
This film, starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet, embodies drug addiction and the toll it can take on someone and their family. It follows along with Timothée's character, Nic, as he experiences survival, relapse, and recovery.
When the credits began to roll, so many thoughts rushed through my head. I wanted to share a few of these thoughts with you today.
Drug addiction
Wow oh wow. I've been lucky enough in my life that I have never experienced drug addiction in my life — not personally or through someone that I know. Frankly, I had no idea what it was like. I was able to see addiction through the eyes of an addict and it was life changing, and very eye opening. There was a scene where David Sheff (Steve Carell's character) is looking through Nic's journal he writes in while he's high, and the entries were nothing like I've ever seen before. Timothée's character was going to school for writing, and seeing his inner thoughts gave audience members the ability to travel deeper and deeper into the mind of an addict. We watch Nic as he battles sobriety, falls into a relapse, and his journey through different rehabs. Overall, a really successful portrayal in my eyes.
A father-son relationship
Of course, the overall theme of the film is drug addiction. However, one thing that really stuck out to me was the loving, emotional relationship Nic Sheff and his dad have. I see a lot of toxic masculinity in father-son relationships. Often, I hear dads telling their sons to "man up," and to be society's definition of "tough". That's how it should be... right? After seeing this film, I wanted to go home and hug my dad. A relationship between a father and a son should be heartfelt, emotional, and loving. I never had a doubted the unconditional love David Sheff had with his son. He went through so much to get help for his son — he was with him every step of the way. When Nic disappeared from rehab, David went to find him. Heck, David even snorted cocaine just to see what all the fuss was about. (100% real)
Overall, I'd give this film a 4/5 star rating. My only constructive criticism is that sometimes there isn't always hope and a family there to help when times get rough, being a drug user. Sometimes it gets even deeper and more intense in most situations. However, I thought it was a great portrayal of a boy growing up in a stable home environment being exposed to drugs. A boy the family really cared about and nurtured, and never truly expected to become a drug addict.
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