Beautiful Boy is a memior by David Sheff about his relationship with his son. It recently got adapted into a movie starring Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell. Spoiler: I loved both the book and the movie immensely.
The Memoir
In Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through his Son’s Addiction, David Sheff details what drug addiction is like from a loved one’s perspective. He tells the story of his son, Nic Sheff, and his life of drug addiction. The memoir goes through their lives as a father son duo and shows how rough drug addiction is not only for the addict, but for the people that love and care about them. David Sheff goes to great lengths to help Nic throughout his life because of the love he has for him. The story is raw and emotional and really beneficial for us to see the struggle from both sides–the addicted and the loved ones. This book changed me; it was such a powerful, important story, and while these topics can be somewhat uncomfortable or unfamiliar, they are real.
The Adaptation
First of all, two words: Timothée. Chalamet. He is truly incredible. I thought his performance in Call Me By Your Name was incredible (if you haven’t seen CMBYN literally what are you doing go watch it right now) but the fact that he was able to portray a completely different role, especially one like this (he plays Nic Sheff) blew me away. He did it so well; it was so believable. The movie was beautifully done, and it had an amazing soundtrack. Steve Carell, who we’re so used to seeing most often as funny, childish, Michael Scott in The Office, also did a phenomenal job as David Sheff. Both actors brought so much emotion to their roles, and the movie did a really good job not straying too far from the memoir. It was so incredibly done, especially that one scene at the end (no spoilers, but if you know you know).
I loved both the book and the movie so much that whenever I get asked what my favorite book/movie is lately, that is my immediate answer. It is so important that we read/watch stories like this so that we are aware of the struggles other people go through, especially if it something that is completely foreign to us. Go pick up the book or watch the movie (it’s free if you have Amazon prime) right now!