‘Beautiful Boy’ (2018) Review:

I saw this alone because none of my friends knew about this film and they didn’t seem very interested. It also had a low score of 68% on rotten tomatoes. But never-less, I booked a ticket and went out of my way to go and see it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I don’t know why this movie is not getting as much appreciation as it deserve. It is nowhere near being a “bad” or “average” film. I have seen some critics call it “average” or “repetitive”… But what they don’t understand is that this film is trying to portray how repetitive drug use, rehab and relapse is. People struggling with drug addiction don’t just wake up one morning, stop, and never touch them again. It is no where near that easy.

The repetitiveness is one of the reasons I liked this film as much as I did. It was emotionally draining to watch the same occurrences happen again and again to not only Nic, but to his entire family. These feelings replicate what it must feel like to have a relative struggling with this problem and trying to help them overcome it; frustrating and draining.

This was a very important story to tell, and Groeningen told it in such a brutal and real way. The fact that we got to see this all unfolding from the parents perspective was a unique point of view which I believe is rare to see in films discussing this topic… So that was extremely refreshing. There was no glitter or pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. It was honest, harsh, and upsetting. Which for me personally, is the best way to tell these true stories about real people who are still going through these exact problems in real time. Glorifying these “addictions” and making the lifestyle look amazing is something many films have done in the past, and I completely adored how raw ‘Beautiful Boy’ was.

The only problems I really had with the film was that it was a bit long and the pacing was off… and in certain scenes Steve Carrell reminded me a lot of his comedic roles due to his sometimes “obnoxious” yelling. But these are some flaws that can be over-looked and I can still see an underrated film filled with amazing performances from every single cast member.

I do recommend giving ‘Beautiful Boy’ two hours of your time. It will not only change your perspective on those struggling with these “addictions,” but make you admire the parents and family surrounding them as well.