Beautiful Boy is breathtakingly mature and deeply touching
COMBINING a father’s memoirs with those of his addict son, Steve Carell plays writer David Sheff and Timothee Chalamet his lad Nic.
This English-language debut from Oscar nominated Belgian director Felix Van Groeningen displays addiction at its worst.
It reveals the helplessness and selfishness, the way addiction chokes both addict and those who love them.
Told in non-linear fashion – flashing back throughout their relationship – most of the film is from David’s perspective. But we get a sneak peek into possible reasons for Nic’s illness, including divorce, the pressure of high expectations and fear of failure.
But if this tells us anything (apart from the obvious) it is that parents must eventually realise they cannot mould their kids to fit their own expectations.
Sometimes you just have to be the familiar stranger.
It is a tough watch for anyone but far more so for parents and anyone touched by addiction. Chalamet’s performance is breathtakingly mature and worthy of all the plaudits heading his way. If there is a fault, it is that the narrative has nowhere to go and meanders a little.
There is rarely a dramatic climax to these issues, just the slow erosion of a life. Deeply touching.
Beautiful Boy (15) Amazon Prime Video
★★★★☆
THE phrase “inspired by true events” fills me with fear – and this comedy-drama justifies that trepidation.
Jason Sudeikis is Jim Hoffman, a numpty who finds himself in the pocket of the FBI after being caught smuggling cocaine.
Unwittingly moving in next door to famous car magnate John DeLorean (Lee Pace) leads him down a farcical path where he’s both star-struck and desperate for a way out of his own predicament.
When DeLorean’s dream of filling the States with winged, stainless steel-clad cars goes awry, Hoffman smells blood and tries to frame both him and the drug dealer who got him in this whole mess to begin with.
It is told via courtroom flashback and Sudeikis carries the film but rarely delivers on anything truly empathetic or funny.
Pace’s performance as DeLorean is pretty hilarious, but for all the wrong reasons.
There’s a good story in there but the makers focused on all the wrong parts.
Driven (15) Sky Cinema and Now TV
★★★☆☆
HARRISON FORD in a Disney buddy movie alongside a big, lolloping fuzzball on a dangerous adventure? Take me, Han!
Instead of Chewbacca the Wookiee, we have a St Bernard/Scotch collie cross called Buck.
And we’ve swapped Star Wars’ Kessel Run for the white water rapids of Canada.
A somewhat sanitised version of Jack London’s 1903 classic sees our hero Buck stolen from his comfortable Californian home and dragged from pillar to post.
It isn’t until he meets the lonely and grieving John Thornton (Ford) that things all start falling into place. Unlike modern kids’ films, there is no snark, no meta, no jokes for the mums and dads.
MOST READ IN TV & SHOWBIZ
This is a proper cheesy feel-good movie, which is both its blessing and curse.
For all its warmth there’s no denying that without Ford – or the huge amount of CGI – this would have been a Sunday afternoon DVD film of the past.
But its old-fashioned qualities and exciting set-pieces made it very enjoyable.
The Call of the Wild (PG) Sky Store
★★★☆☆
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]