Nothing tests an unconditional love more than addiction. A 2016 survey found that a little over 20 million Americans suffered from substance abuse, and with the rise of opioid and prescription drug abuse in America, that number has surely grown. Addiction, however, does not just affect the user. Approximately 46% of Americans have someone close to them – a family member or a friend – addicted to drugs. We have reality shows dedicated to families planning substance abuse interventions and hear countless stories of parents – unfortunately, both literally and figuratively – losing their children to substance addiction.
Father and son, David and Nic Sheff, take an honest and raw look at addiction from both the addict’s and parent’s point of view in their memoirs Beautiful Boy and Tweak. Both memoirs detail Nic’s descent into addiction, his desperation for the next fix, David’s own struggle to help his son, and the bumpy and unstable road to recovery.
This October, their story comes to life when Beautiful Boy hits movie theaters, and if I get this emotional by watching a two minute trailer, I know I’m practically going to a hysterical mess after a two hour film.
The trailer opens on a father and son, meeting in a diner. Their conversation is awkward, the perfunctory “How are you” followed by monosyllabic answers: “Great.” It starts off as any typical parent-teenager conversation, but quickly turns when it’s clear that this is beyond typical: a father is pleading with his child to receive help, and the son – clearly agitated by the offer and, most likely, whatever he’s taking – refuses the help, claiming to have his usage under control. Images of happier times – father and son surfing, David taking Nic to school, family dinners filled with laughter – are interspersed among darker moments of Nic’s drug use and David’s desperation, love, and anger at his son.
Of all the immense talent amassed in this film – including the brilliantly talented Timothée Chalamet and Amy Ryan – this movie clearly belongs to Steve Carell, who portrays David Sheff’s love and concern for his child with such intensity that when the trailer ends with David saying to his child throughout the years, “I love you more than everything,” you find yourself saying “Everything” back to him and meaning it.
And yes, Office fans, I did have that brief moment where I thought, “Oh, look. Michael and Holly had a kid…” Then I started crying…again.
