Cast:
Ellar Coltrane
Patricia Arquette
Ethan Hawke
Lorelei Linklater
Boyhood has been on my list of films to watch for months before the Oscar nominees were announced, though I had no doubt of it’s nomination given all that I was hearing. The idea that they filmed this over the course of 12 years fascinated me, and I couldn’t wait to see how it worked on film.
I enjoyed the movie, but didn’t love it. It was interesting, and I enjoyed getting to see the characters age on the screen, instead of seeing a series of actors portraying the same role at different ages. The only way you could even judge the passage of time in the movie was through the aging of the characters, since there was very little other reference points to tell you time was passing. At times I found this frustrating – I wanted to know exactly how much time was passing between scenes – but in a way it was also refreshing; how much time was passing didn’t matter so much as the simple fact that time was indeed passing.
This movie certainly isn’t one for viewers who enjoy action. The film is simply about the life of a boy, and there isn’t any action taking place. There’s no plot at all aside from life and growing up. Given that the film was nearly three hours long, this meant that at times it felt very slow, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I was ever bored.
The performances were fantastic. I enjoyed the entire cast, and Patricia Arquette definitely deserves her Oscar nomination; her performance was possibly my favorite in the film.
Overall this film wasn’t one of my favorites, though I suspect it has a good chance of winning Best Picture.
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Moment: I loved the brief scene of the Harry Potter midnight release party. I really miss those days.
Ranking:
1. The Theory of Everything
2. The Imitation Game
3. American Sniper
4. Boyhood
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Not Another Dumb Blonde 
I can see why someone may not like this film. I originally saw it with 2 other people in September, and they both hated it, because Mason didn’t join a rock band, or get arrested in his youth for doing drugs. “Nothing happened” they complained. While I did like it the first time, I liked it a lot more the second viewing.
Also, I found that they had lots of reference points by showing various objects (game boy colour, Harry Potter, Twilight, etc).
LikeLike
I definitely didn’t hate the film, it was just slow. However, I don’t think it would have been the same if it had more action, or more of a plot. The point of the film was just to show a boy growing up, and not everyone’s life is exciting like you see in the movies. Perhaps I too would enjoy it more on a second viewing, though I have a feeling it will be a while before I see it again.
LikeLike
Hey, you forgot to list Lorelei Linklater in your cast listing!
I really liked this movie. I haven’t seen all the Oscar contenders yet, but this is definitely one of my favorites. I watched it when it was first released–I had been hearing about it for years now. So, I was intrigued with the concept before I even watched it. Add to that an admitted bias that I’m a fan of Linklater’s work (the BEFORE trilogy is one of my favorite movies of all time). I agree that it was pretty slow-paced…but because of that, in many ways it didn’t feel like a movie. It was more like real life, which is admittedly devoid of sound and fury and still manages to signify something. That’s how I felt about this movie. There were lots of little moments in the movie that really felt true to a reminiscence and almost felt more like a written essay than a movie. But the overall story arc–particularly for Arquette and Hawke–was really beautiful I thought. I guess they seemed to have the most character development, which makes sense because Mason and his sister were really too young to have that sort of development, I guess?
LikeLike
Oops! I’ll make sure I add her.
I’ve never seen any of the Before movies, though I definitely plan to someday. The pacing wasn’t an issue with the film – you’re right, that’s the way it needed to be to make it feel like real life. Arquette and Hawke were probably my favorite parts of the film, though I was impressed with Ellar Coltrane. He may not have had a lot of development (I think you’re right, they were too young) but his performance was very honest.
LikeLike
I agree, I think Ellar has a great career ahead of him. (Assuming he created a character, he did a great job.)
And you definitely need to watch the BEFORE trilogy. I watched BEFORE SUNRISE when it came out and I loved it so much I watched it 23 times in the theater. I’m the same age as Jesse and Celine, and I was traveling in Europe the same summer they filmed, so I could relate. And I still relate to them. They’re two of my most favorite movie characters of all time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We watched this one last weekend and really enjoyed it. We were initially thrown off by the jumps in time, too. The lack of a really clear plot was definitely different from most movies. I kept waiting for certain things to circle back around (like the situation with Mason’s step siblings or when he was bullied in the bathroom) but the lack of closure on a lot of things really is much more of a reflection on how life really is. I didn’t feel like I loved the film, but the hubby and I found ourselves talking about it quite a bit the next day. It was one of those movies that just kind of keeps rolling around in your brain for a few days.
LikeLike
I felt the same way. I didn’t love it, and probably wouldn’t watch it again, but I did enjoy watching it. I also felt the same way about the step-siblings; I usually hate when plot threads are left dangling, but like you said I think it’s part of life, and therefore there was no reason to go back to that.
LikeLiked by 1 person