Monday, December 8, 2014

Review of BOYHOOD: 12 Years a Growing Boy

December 7, 2014




"Boyhood" is about Mason (Ellar Coltrane) and his life as a 6 year old kid to an 18 years old college freshman. He has a sassy elder sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). We meet his mom Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and her string of unfortunate choices in men, and how they affected the kids. We see his occasional meetings over the years with their estranged dad Mason Sr.(Ethan Hawke) and his aimless life, until he remarried and had a new baby.

There are no really big events, no really big climax. This film is just an unfolding of a boy's life through primary school, middle school and high school, and the random things that happened to him and his family in those twelve years. We hear a lot of pop culture references as the timeline goes through the years, from Harry Potter to Twilight. In various episodes, we see Mason go through bullying, marijuana, alcohol, first love, sex, his passion for photography, among others.

It was Patricia Arquette who gets the prime acting moments in this film as the mom who goes literally through the wringer to bring up her two kids. Her final declaration before Mason went off to college is literally what all parents want to say at that time of their own lives. Ethan Hawke acts so naturally here as the happy-go-lucky father, as he always does.

Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater literally grow up 12 years in front of our very eyes within the 165 minute running time. Their acting was so natural as willful kids, though they became rather self-conscious as they grew up. My favorite moment with Coltrane is the episode when Mason was 10, about that radical haircut his stepfather had him take against his will. After that, Coltrane's Mason became more reserved and reticent.

I'm sure we all would have wanted more unique or memorable events to happen to Mason in this film, but that did not happen. Admit it or not, for most of us, life can really be a simple humdrum existence. Every so often we celebrate victories or mourn our losses, as Mason and his parents did in this film. But these are all considered minor in the bigger scheme of things, and we move on with our lives. "Boyhood" is as real a depiction of human life as it can possibly be. The story of our lives does not always have a distinct plot or a plot twist, but we go on living just the same.

Richard Linklater likes telling long stories. He is best known for writing and directing his "Before Sunrise" trilogy. That love story of Jesse and Celine was told in three films released nine years apart per film. Here in "Boyhood", Linklater tells a story that spans twelve years. This time, he actually took twelve years to film it (intermittently, of course). With that conceit, this is a literally epic piece of filmmaking in that sense. Do not be surprised to see this film land in the list of Oscar Best Picture nominees for this year. It will be there. 8/10.


24 comments:

  1. This movie interests me. I've seen the trailer in YouTube. However, as I expected, it's not a commercialised one with the climax and all so I'm going to need a really good day to sit down and watch it. Thanks for this nice review!

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  2. This is a great movie. When I watched it it feels like an straight line with out any twist and alternation, even though the movie is best. As you told the director made before series with 9 years of gap, it seems the director is the best.

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  3. i think this movie is interesting! the trivia piece that the end really makes me want to watch it!

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  4. hmm, not my kind of movie. it sounds a little boring to me, the way you described it. will probably give this a miss.

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  5. I've seen teasers about this film on The Insider, and it really interests me. Splendid review Fred, as always:) Will watch this anytime soon.

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  6. My partner told me about this and he really wanted to see this movie. Now I need to look for a copy since this was not in cinemas.. Great review!

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    1. This was actually in the cinemas last week before the Hobbits took over this week. Strangely, it was NOT shown in SM or Ayala Cinemas.

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  7. It sounds like a typical Ethan Hawke film. And, I would have watched this over The Hobbits. I like what you said about the film trying to show a true depiction of real human life - that really interests me.

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  8. I am such a movie buff. I have seen this movie and it's amazing how they use the same actors over time! Wow!

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  9. I read about this film too and thought it was amazing to do it with the same person for 12 years instead of getting another person to act as the younger or adult version. To be truthful, it's almost like the Harry Potter trio who spent 10+ years filming the entire series...

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  10. You're actually right. I think we were used to stories with big climax that we get so disappointed if we didn't see that in the film. We forget that in real life, as you've said, "life can really be a simple humdrum existence".

    But entertainment wise, I don't think I'd want to watch this.

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  11. It sounds like an interesting movie. Every story need not have something dramatic. Sometimes great stories are really simple :)

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  12. Hmm... not my kind of movie I guess. Thx for sharing :D

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  13. Well its a movie of a boy with a normal life.. hmm could be interesting I dont know but generally people we are watching movies with interesting plot because our life's are normal and we wanna escape. Thanks for sharing I ll consider watching this movie :D

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  14. Not my kind of movie but the way it was produced gets me interested to check out the movie. Seeing actors grow up from kids to teens in just 165 minutes is pretty interesting to watch :)

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  15. Now this is a movie I would like to watch, not some famous blockbuster but an emotional and moving drama that makes you think about life and relationships, family and the impact of family environment on your childhood and adulthood. A great review!

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  16. I think a lot of people can relate to Boyhood since we all went through that phase. It would be nice to see the journey of Mason in the film.

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  17. Sounds like an interesting film. My son is ten right now. And we are living this in real life :)

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  18. To fully understand the 12 years of age in a growing up boy... I guess this is a great movie to watch.. :)

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  19. This sounds like the perfect movie for me. Nothing to complicated, just a good movie to take you out of your own life a for bit. It reminds me of "The Way Way Back."

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  20. Great review and thanks for sharing! However, I think I'll just skip this as it's not my type

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  21. Interesting story line..sounds like an entertaining movie :)

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  22. I've heard so much about this movie and it got a ton of reviews when it came out.. It reminds me a bit of the 7 and Up series in the UK. I plan to see this.

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  23. Sounds interesting movie ,i saw a trailer actually and skipped ,now after seeing your review ,i will watch it for sure
    thanks and stay blessed

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