Director: Felix van Groeningen

Writer: Felix van Groeningen, Luke Davies (Screenplay) David Sheff, Nic Sheff (Book)

Starring: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Christian Convery, Oakley Bull, Kaitlyn Dever

Plot: Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

Tagline – Based on the Acclaimed Memoirs of David Sheff and Nic Sheff

Runtime: 2 Hours

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Performance Heavy Movie

Story: Beautiful Boy starts with David Sheff (Carell) asking about the addiction and cure behind crystal meth after his son has become addicted too it, we flashback to the earlier years between David and his son Nic (Chalamet) who has been in and out of rehab avoiding college before taking up a chance in college, where he is exposed to more drugs.

When everything gets out of hand, David turns to the experts to make sure he can finally get Nic clean, it isn’t going to be an easy road, but it is his son and he will do anything to cure his son from his addiction.

Thoughts on Beautiful Boy

Characters – David is the father that has seen his son spiral out of control in his addiction to drugs, he does his own research to help his son try to recover only for this to become more difficult each time, his relationship with his son will be pushed to the limits and only his love can get him through. Nic is the teenage son that had a wonderful future waiting for him, he started taking drugs which only took his life down a path of destruction which he can’t escape from, it will see him doing too many bad things with only his parents standing by him. Karen is the step mum that sees the suffering from both sides and is worried about the younger children, while Vicki is the mother on the other side of the country that seems to have lost more hope than his father.

Performances – This film relies on the quality in the performances, Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet are both fantastic showing us both the talent Steve can have and the talent Timothee continues to show. The supporting cast are strong showing the moments that are important in the film.

Story – This is the story that follows a father son relationship when the son becomes addicted to drugs and however many times, they try to get him off the drugs, he falls off the wagon again. This is a story that many people go through, it is tragic how easily people can become addicted to drugs, this shows us just how important family is to try to cure the addiction. The story does seem to jump around the timeline too much for my liking and I feel the introduction moment would be important to help understand how easily Nic entered the drug world. The story here isn’t as strong as it should be to make a proper impact on the drug taking world.

Biopic – This is a mix of the two accounts of the event, David and Nic’s which does show us what is going on through two mindsets, the reality is this could be any father son or family involved with drugs, nothing seems that standout on this side of the film.

Settings – The settings show us the different worlds Nic can be part off, the family that wants to be there for him and the one where the drugs take over.

Scene of the Movie – The chase.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The story isn’t the most interesting.

Final Thoughts – This is a performance heavy movie that shows the consequences of taking too many drugs and becoming addicted and how one family stuck together to help cure the addiction.

Overall: Performances that wow, the story just falls flat.

Rating

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Bill Condon (Screenplay) Tom Eyen (Book)

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose

Plot: A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Tagline – One Dream Will Change Everything

Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Magical Musical

Story: Dreamgirls starts as we meet the three soul singers from Detroit Deena Jones (Beyonce), Effie White (Hudson) and Lorrell Robinson (Rose), the Dreams, they are trying to make a name for themselves and catch the attention of Curtis Taylor Jr (Foxx) who arranges them to be back up singers for James ‘Thunder’ Early.

When Curtis sees the girls future alone, but with Deena taking the lead of the trio it doesn’t set well with Effie and with the act breaking barriers across the world it builds the tension between the band before eventually seeing Effie leaving the act as Deena becoming the international star and Effie must face the consequences of giving up her own chance of stardom.

Thoughts on Dreamgirls

Characters – Curtis Taylor Jr gave up his car dealership to turn the Dreams into stars, he knows how to challenge the market to get the goes famous, taking a shine to Deena he sees her being the front of the trio which causes the tension within the trio, he delivers on his promises even if things don’t come off as clean as they should. Deena is one of the trio, she gets the most attention because she is the most attractive and while taking over the leading role in the trio where her stardom divides the friendship. James ‘Thunder’ Early is the artist that the Dreams start as backup, he watches the Dreams go onto be bigger stars than he had ever been because of the lack of support. Effie White is the best singer in the trio, she is the first to oppose being just a backup singer, wanting to take her position to the next level, which only sees he removed from the band.

Performances – Jamie Foxx was at the top of his career here and it shows because he is great, the biggest surprises come from the rest of the main cast, Eddie Murphy, well this is easily his best performance in the last 30 years and shows everyone just what he is capable off. Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson are both fantastic in their roles as the completely understand how difficult the music industry can be for anyone.

Story – The story follows the trio of soul singers who start in just a talent contest to hopefully get a big break, only to find themselves becoming international superstars, but with success comes at a price as the trio go their own ways with one becoming the biggest name in music and the other resorted to performing in clubs. We get to see the harsh reality of the music industry from the four main characters and directions they end up taking. Having a film balance the four characters stories so, well is unusual and a great watch.

Musical – The song and numbers are all wonderful with plenty of different genre touched on as the sound of the band changes through the years too.

Settings – The film shows the different worlds these women could be living in, the riot filled streets of Detroit or the fame and celebrity world.

Scene of the Movie – Final performance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Wondering why Eddie Murphy can’t perform this well more often.

Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable musical that shines a spotlight on the soul music scene during the 60’s, it has wonderful performance throughout and is a must watch for the fans of the music genre and musical fans in general.

Overall: Beautiful movie.

Rating