First Take: Beautiful Boy- some things should just remain unseen

SYNOPSIS:

Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

This is the English language debut for the film’s director Felix Van Groeningen. And it was last night’s Screen Unseen film. I have to say, it was a challenge to sit through, not knowing much about the film, but 24 hours later, I can see why the powers that be picked this film for the greatest mystery film night in the UK.

Van Groeningen’s direction is passable at times, he paces the film in a decent way, but at 2 hours, this could have been executed better as a documentary rather than a narrative feature, and that’s also due to the script- some of the dialogue in the screenplay from Van Groeningen and Luke Davies could’ve been cut to make more dramatic sense, but given the book it has been adapted from, it is understandable. It is shot well by Ruben Impens, and the soundtrack is OK, but I have to say, this film really divided the infamous Great Men™ of the blog, who joined me as usual last night.

Performance wise, Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet are fine, and supporting them are Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever and others- but unsurprisingly the subject nature of the film is where this release properly struggles, at times it feels predictable, and even being based on a true story, the execution of the film leaves a lot to be desired- not a nice way to end what has been an incredible year of Screen Unseens at a non-descript cinema chain. A word to the wise though, don’t play this film next door to a busy Bohemian Rhapsody showing. It isn’t a good mix.

THE VERDICT

With some pretty decent performances and a narrative that fails to deliver in many cases, Beautiful Boy is a film that will garner awards attention in some aspects- but unfortunately it is just too brutal to be seen in a multiplex cinema. Is it enjoyable? Yes, but only if you’re in the right mindset. If you like your films to be detailed and depressing at the same time, this film is for you. But for those leading PSHE lessons at schools, this film is pretty solid.

RATING: 3.5/5