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critics consensus

Beautiful Boy sees Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell delivering showcase work that's often powerful enough to make up for the story's muted emotional impact. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

Teenager Nicolas Sheff seems to have it all -- good grades, editor of the school newspaper, actor, artist and athlete. When Nic's addiction to meth threatens to destroy him, his desperate father does whatever he can to save his son and his family.
  • Rating:
    R (Drug Content Throughout|Brief Sexual Material|Language)
  • Genre:
    biography, drama
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Felix van Groeningen
  • Producer:
    Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
  • Writer:
    Luke Davies, Felix van Groeningen
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     wide
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $7.6M
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Plan B Entertainment
  • Aspect Ratio:
    Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Steve Carell
David Sheff
Timothée Chalamet
Nic Sheff
Maura Tierney
Karen Barbour
Amy Ryan
Vicki
Timothy Hutton
Dr. Brown
Kaitlyn Dever
Lauren
Andre Royo
Spencer
LisaGay Hamilton
Rose
Felix van Groeningen
Director
Luke Davies
Screenwriter
Felix van Groeningen
Screenwriter
Brad Pitt
Producer
Dede Gardner
Producer
Jeremy Kleiner
Producer
Nan Morales
Executive Producer
Ruben Impens
Cinematographer
Nico Leunen
Film Editor
Ethan Tobman
Production Design
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News & Interviews for Beautiful Boy

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Critic Reviews for Beautiful Boy

All Critics (258) | Top Critics (67) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (83)

View All Critic Reviews (258)

Audience Reviews for Beautiful Boy

  • Jan 15, 2019
    BEAUTIFUL BOY (2 Stars) Ugh. This isn't even a movie. There's no real story. It just keeps repeating itself to death and then ends. Yes, it mirrors the cycle of addiction that plague so many people, but that doesn't make for good storytelling. Timothée Chalamet does some great work when portraying his character's addiction to heroin, but I never believed him as a meth addict. There's a distinction that I don't think he quite captured. Steve Carell here has that annoying high pitch in his voice we typically see from Tom Cruise when he plays an end-of-his-rope character. Major points deducted for the terrible choice to edit a montage to "Sunrise/Sunset" from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Who thought that worked? I want names!!
    Glenn G Super Reviewer
  • Jan 09, 2019
    One of the best and most moving movie endings I have seen, the film is well paced but the out of order story line can confuse. This version leaves a lot to be desired from the book, but the score picks it up and it soars. Timothee underwent a brilliant transformation to bring this character to light, some of his co stars also shine.
    Super Reviewer
  • Dec 10, 2018
    It felt like it was taking this a long time to really find its groove and then I checked my phone to see where we were time-wise and it was an hour and a half in. Needless to say, Beautiful Boy has no groove to be found. Having not read the source material this may immediately mean less to me, but the structuring of this story as its done in the film doesn't help. It's not hard to see what the film is trying to do in telling the two parallel perspectives of the father and the son caught in this battle with addiction, but in doing so what results is a disjointed mess of a movie (at least upon first watch). We never spend long enough periods with either of the characters to garner any real sympathy for them-not until the end anyway when Carell brings it all home. It's kind of a weird movie too, but worse is the fact it's a boring weird movie. Every single aspect of these people's lives revolves around coping with addiction and addiction itself, but there has to be more in order to have the audience invest in these lives. I adore Steve Carell and Timothï¿ 1/2 (C)e Chalamet seems like a genuinely nice, cool, and grateful kid, but even their strenuous performances feel exhausting and void of any tangible pathos.
    Philip P Super Reviewer
  • Nov 25, 2018
    The story's impact is almost diluted by the film's editing (with its jumps in time and flashbacks within flashbacks) and questionable choice of music, which makes it kind of emotionally stiff, even though that is compensated by two amazing performances by Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
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