Review: Boyhood

Not Your Usual Coming Of Age Movie............

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Houston, Texas born Richard Linklater was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. His trademark became known for setting each of his movies during one 24-hour period, Linklater's work explored what he dubbed "the youth rebellion continuum," focusing on generational rites and attitudes with a rare compassion and understanding. He became known for definitively capturing the 20-something culture of his era through a series of nuanced ensemble pieces which introduced a number of talented young actors into the Hollywood spotlight.
After dropping out of University in 1982 to work off-shore on an oil rig in The Gulf Of Mexico, he relocated to the Texas state capital of Austin. He founded a film society and began work on his debut film, It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988). Three years later he released the Slacker(1991), a virtually plotless look at 1990s youth culture that became a favourite on the festival circuit prior to earning vast acclaim at Sundance in 1991. It became the subject of considerable mainstream media attention, with the term "slacker" becoming a much-overused tag employed to affix a name and identity to America's disaffected youth culture. Since then he has frequently written and/or directed movies starring children or teens, e.g., Dazed and Confused (1993), School of Rock (2003), and Bad News Bears (2005).
For his latest film, Boyhood, Linklater has chosen to push the boundaries of film making by filming the same cast of actors over a 12 year period. This level of continuity has never been seen on the silver screen before, but the big question is; does it pay off?

The film follows the life of Mason Evans Jr (Ellar Coltrane). A six year old boy living with his older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) and his single mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) in a small town in Texas. Over the course of 12 years we follow Mason year-by-year as he grows from a young boy to a young man on the cusp of moving to University. From moving through several homes and schools to a collective of his mothers abusive partners, we see the difficult journey of growing up laid before us.

You may be wondering "So what's the plot?" but the thing with Boyhood is there is no arching plot. It's an extraordinarily realistic look into the moments in a young child's life. There's just no need for a fantastical plot when these relatable moments serve the movie in it's best interests. I think if there was a story arch that spanned the whole film it would subtract from the tone of the movie and take away from some of the realism that makes this film so special. All credit goes to Linklater on that front for proving that even after all these years he can create material that connects closely to today's youth culture. I read that he filmed a short film every year with the cast and after 12 years he edited all the footage into one movie but you would hardly tell, aside from the fact that the cast is clearly ageing throughout, because it just seamlessly fits together.
You have all these moments that are so true to real life that doesn't steer into the over-the-top Hollywood cliché, for instance when Mason has his first beer there is no emphasis on "this is a bad thing he shouldn't be doing" instead it plays into that realism that leaves you going "wow that was how it happened to me". And there are a lot of those moments in this film. Coming off that point of true to life realism, the chemistry between the family members is just mind-blowingly good! In fact if it wasn't for the fact that Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette are famous and recognisable actors, I would have gone the whole movie thinking that somebody had just filmed a real family over the course of 12 years.
It taps into the notion that people change over the years, even adults, and how the people around them cope with those changes as well as their own.

Don't get me wrong though. This movie may not be for everybody. Some of you may easily get bored and switch off after 40 minutes, and it does run for a long time at nearly 3 hours, but for me personally I loved it! And that's what film is; a subjective art form. There were so many moments I related to, cause I myself grew up with a single parent, that made this movie special for me. Capturing the sense of wonder and excitement we all lose as we grow up and come to terms with the true nature of the world.

For myself Boyhood was a massive surprise. I went in with reservations with all the hype surrounding the movie but they were soon squashed into nothing by the first 30 minutes. With stunning, nuanced performances and an incredibly detailed and realised script, Richard Linklater has created a piece of cinematic gold that breaks the conventions of how a feature film could be made. I have a feeling that within 5 to 10 years this will be a cult classic that many people will enjoy.


RATING:  ★★★★☆

By Matthew Trick