See It at the Movies

BEAUTIFUL BOY

By JOYCE & DON FOWLER
Posted 11/7/18

BEAUTIFUL BOY * * * * (True story of young addict) If you go to the movies for escapism, you might want to skip this one. If you want to see some great acting while being engrossed in a powerful story about the effect of drugs (especially crystal meth)

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See It at the Movies

BEAUTIFUL BOY

Posted

BEAUTIFUL BOY

* * * *

(True story of young addict)

If you go to the movies for escapism, you might want to skip this one. If you want to see some great acting while being engrossed in a powerful story about the effect of drugs (especially crystal meth) on an individual and his family, this is a must-see movie.

Steve Carell plays the caring father of a teenage boy (Timothee Calamet) who agonizes over his son's addiction, looking for answers to what he did wrong in parenting and what he could do to help him. There are no easy answers in this true story, which is taken from memoirs written by both father and son.

We follow Nicholas through his first experience, his desire for something stronger, his addiction, his attempts at rehabs, and his reaching bottom. We also follow his father as he researches the drugs, looks at the psychological and societal reasons leading to addiction, questions his failings as a father attends, support meetings and eventually tries tough love.

On the wall of the support meeting is a poster that reads, You didn't cause it/You can't control it/ You can't cure it. That's easy to say, but the reality of their experiences raises all sorts of feelings: guilt, inadequacy, failure among them.

Beautiful Boy is one tough, honest look at addiction that at times is difficult to sit through. Because it looks at the actual experiences of both the addict and his family, and was written with both perspectives in mind, it makes for one powerful warning of what drug addiction is doing to way too many people.

Stay for the credits and listen to a moving poem.

Rated R with profanity and drug use.

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