Tickets are available for the Wednesday, Feb. 20 screening of Beautiful Boy at Landmark Cinemas. Showtime is 5 p.m.
Fresh from his breakout role in Call Me By Your Name, Academy Award nominee Timothée Chalamet (Lady Bird) turns in another dazzling performance in Beautiful Boy. Playing a young man raging and suffering through drug addiction, he confirms his status as one of the very best actors of his generation. He is matched every step of the way in this moving drama by Steve Carell, who continues to build on his comic achievements.
David Sheff (Carell) is a kind, loving, middle-class dad. He and his wife, Vicki (Amy Ryan), seem to have done everything right for their family. So when son Nic (Chalamet) gets addicted to methamphetamine, David can’t believe it, can’t stop it, and can’t help but risk everything to try to get his son back. As David grapples with Nic’s lies, betrayals, and constant flirtations with death, the film reminds us of who Nic used to be — a sweet, thoughtful, beautiful boy.
Adapting the bestselling books that David Sheff and Nic Sheff wrote about their experiences, Belgian director Felix van Groeningen brings both realism and poetry to a tragically timely story. As the Sheffs confront the intractable, unpredictable beast of addiction, they must at the same time confront the fact that Nic’s pain might also be his choice. Beautiful Boy doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality of this family’s struggle, but frames it with a surprising amount of life, love, and hope.
“Beautiful Boy … is scrupulous and tenderly wounding — a drama that seizes and holds you. It’s a compelling movie whether or not it happens to speak to you personally, yet you can bet that a lot of people who have stood by and watched members of their families succumb to drug addiction are going to want to see it.”
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety
The film series, an ongoing fundraiser for Comox Valley Art Gallery, screens films from the Toronto International Film Festival through TIFF – Film Circuit. Tickets are $14 for CVAG Members and $15 for Non-Members.
To purchase tickets over the phone call CVAG at 250-338-6211 or drop by the CVAG Shop at 580 Duncan Avenue, Courtenay.