REVIEW: BOYHOOD
Hype for a movie varies a lot nowadays. Social media, and websites like this one, blogs and whatnot, can carry a movie a long ways. Movie stars aren't enough in today's world I don't believe. You don't really need an A-listers presence to tell a good story anymore, and the ushering in of special effects has also helped in this. Websites like Metacritic, IMDb and primarily Rotten Tomatoes tell you if you should invest your $8.50 into a couple of hours of entertainment. Part of Boyhood's strategy, at least some of it anyway, of getting butts into seats was toting its incredibly rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which has since dropped to a much less impressive 99% after two critics disliked it. And you can listen to those two people, who I'm sure have very valid opinions...or you could listen to the other 176 people, make that 177 now including me, who are citing Boyhood as one of the finest movies this year, and an accomplishment in the world of cinema.
It's a question that's been thrown around a lot I believe: why not wait a few years to gradually show the progression of a life instead of hiring actors who look like their younger counterpoint to play older them (though they would've had to wait an awfully long time for Kate Winslet to transform into Gloria Stuart for Titanic)? Richard Linklater has flirted with this concept with his Before trilogy, showing a couple's relationship every nine years. He's also had tremendous success with directing Jack Black in two of finest roles: Bernie and School of Rock. He's made two uniquely animated, rotoscoped movies, the stoner classic Dazed and Confused, and has scored a pair of Oscar nods. But then again, he also made the remake to Bad News Bears and his debut feature, Slacker, which some consider a cult classic, but I think to be pretentious and loooooong-winded, even with its interesting concept. The good outweighs the bad in this case, and Boyhood is the peak in his career by far, which for an artist like Linklater, is saying a big deal.
I can't go terribly much into detail about Boyhood, because it is not really a motion picture as it is an experience. Not a Gravity type of adventure, but you literally, and I know that word gets literally tossed around literally a lot, but you literally witness the choice moments of an American life. And that is something to be lauded for the years to come. Ellar Coltrane is the film's focus, a boy with divorced parents, his older sister, and a whole life awaiting him when we first see the adorable child at age six, watching him physically and mentally grow into the thoughtful, soft-spoken, confident man he becomes when he moves into his dorm room at the end of it, as I'm about to do in 16 days as of this post. Patricia Arquette is his caring mother, a woman with unfortunate luck with men, but a devotion to her kids nonetheless. Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter, is the sometimes sassy sister to Coltrane's Mason. Ethan Hawke, who I believe has the best chance of being nominated among this cast, is the liberal, "fun dad" who shows as much devotion as Arquette's Olivia, but sees them on weekends, so seeing him is a treat. I cheered internally the most when the kids stayed with him for a while, his Mason Sr. is a blast to watch.
I can't count how many times I gasped out of recognition of something onscreen, and I'll just say this one as not to give too much away: when one of the children in the film plays the round, oval 20 Questions, which I most definitely had as a kid (one regular, and one Harry Potter version, but I go on). Little things like that not only make this film relatable to someone who primarily grew up in the 2000s, but it's a time capsule for us millennials alike. No I don't have a sister or divorced parents, but a solid portion of my friends do, and I've seen the impact on them up close. Mason endures alcoholic stepdads, bullies, that terrible MySpace era in 2009 where everybody had hair like the picture above. He doesn't have super powers, he doesn't get into a terrible amount of trouble, he doesn't have any discernible talents besides photography skills. He's your everyday kid, and we get to see not the milestones (first kiss, first car, learning to ride a bike, etc.) but the little moments that compromise the rest of the 350 days of the year that aren't holidays, vacations, what have you.
In Boyhood Linklater has created an unsentimental look at life here in the States, complete with era-appropriate songs, events, hairstyles and all. You'll laugh, maybe cry if you're a parent, but everyone will go away seeing at least a fraction of themselves in Mason or his family. It's the finest film of the year so far, and I hope it gets an Academy Award for every year Linklater, his incredible crew, and his incredibly game cast took to craft this monumental motion picture.
Rating: 4/4 stars
It's a question that's been thrown around a lot I believe: why not wait a few years to gradually show the progression of a life instead of hiring actors who look like their younger counterpoint to play older them (though they would've had to wait an awfully long time for Kate Winslet to transform into Gloria Stuart for Titanic)? Richard Linklater has flirted with this concept with his Before trilogy, showing a couple's relationship every nine years. He's also had tremendous success with directing Jack Black in two of finest roles: Bernie and School of Rock. He's made two uniquely animated, rotoscoped movies, the stoner classic Dazed and Confused, and has scored a pair of Oscar nods. But then again, he also made the remake to Bad News Bears and his debut feature, Slacker, which some consider a cult classic, but I think to be pretentious and loooooong-winded, even with its interesting concept. The good outweighs the bad in this case, and Boyhood is the peak in his career by far, which for an artist like Linklater, is saying a big deal.
I can't go terribly much into detail about Boyhood, because it is not really a motion picture as it is an experience. Not a Gravity type of adventure, but you literally, and I know that word gets literally tossed around literally a lot, but you literally witness the choice moments of an American life. And that is something to be lauded for the years to come. Ellar Coltrane is the film's focus, a boy with divorced parents, his older sister, and a whole life awaiting him when we first see the adorable child at age six, watching him physically and mentally grow into the thoughtful, soft-spoken, confident man he becomes when he moves into his dorm room at the end of it, as I'm about to do in 16 days as of this post. Patricia Arquette is his caring mother, a woman with unfortunate luck with men, but a devotion to her kids nonetheless. Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter, is the sometimes sassy sister to Coltrane's Mason. Ethan Hawke, who I believe has the best chance of being nominated among this cast, is the liberal, "fun dad" who shows as much devotion as Arquette's Olivia, but sees them on weekends, so seeing him is a treat. I cheered internally the most when the kids stayed with him for a while, his Mason Sr. is a blast to watch.I can't count how many times I gasped out of recognition of something onscreen, and I'll just say this one as not to give too much away: when one of the children in the film plays the round, oval 20 Questions, which I most definitely had as a kid (one regular, and one Harry Potter version, but I go on). Little things like that not only make this film relatable to someone who primarily grew up in the 2000s, but it's a time capsule for us millennials alike. No I don't have a sister or divorced parents, but a solid portion of my friends do, and I've seen the impact on them up close. Mason endures alcoholic stepdads, bullies, that terrible MySpace era in 2009 where everybody had hair like the picture above. He doesn't have super powers, he doesn't get into a terrible amount of trouble, he doesn't have any discernible talents besides photography skills. He's your everyday kid, and we get to see not the milestones (first kiss, first car, learning to ride a bike, etc.) but the little moments that compromise the rest of the 350 days of the year that aren't holidays, vacations, what have you. In Boyhood Linklater has created an unsentimental look at life here in the States, complete with era-appropriate songs, events, hairstyles and all. You'll laugh, maybe cry if you're a parent, but everyone will go away seeing at least a fraction of themselves in Mason or his family. It's the finest film of the year so far, and I hope it gets an Academy Award for every year Linklater, his incredible crew, and his incredibly game cast took to craft this monumental motion picture.
Rating: 4/4 stars
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