Subject’s Father David Allegedly "Didn’t Like The Way He Was Portrayed"
Buried in a story about Cameron Crowe‘s recent exploits, or lack thereof, Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeff Wells reports that the "Vanilla Sky" writer-director recently wrote a script adapted from two meth-addict memoirs by journalist David Sheff and his son Nic — "Beautiful Boy" and "Tweak," both based on their experiences through Nic’s drug addiction ordeal. The finished product, however, was allegedly rejected by its production company, evidently Brad Pitt‘s Plan B Entertainment, because the father, David, purportedly "didn’t like the way he was portrayed." The project has now evidently "moved on to another screenwriter." At the time, Wells’ details from an unconfirmed source. We’ve since reached out and Crowe’s publicist and she said the filmmaker would not comment on the matter (calls to Plan B were not returned by press time). Either way the notion of a meth addiction story through the eyes of the writer behind "Jerry Maguire," "Almost Famous" and "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" is definitely one worth pondering.
Of the two source novels reportedly used by Crowe, David’s "Beautiful Boy" — itself based on his New York Times Magazine article "My Addicted Son" — is definitely the more popular as it became a critical hit upon its 2008 release which was even lauded as an Outstanding Contribution to Advancing the Understanding of Addictions by the American Psychological Association. The novel is described as an "achingly honest tale [that] chronicles the betrayal, pain, and terrifying question marks that haunt the loved ones of an addict" with Sheff’s account evidently one that "opens up personal wounds to reinforce that it is a disease, and must be treated as such."
Not to be outdone, Nic’s novel is described as a "wrenching tale told with electrifying honesty and insight [that] relates his personal struggle with drugs and alcohol in this poignant and often disturbing memoir." The story certainly sounds like a powerful tale ripe for a film adaptation of sorts but, for now, it looks that it will be without the involvement of Crowe.