Boyhood - Review
This review of Boyhood is spoiler-free!
When we think of what defines a great film, we all have varying definitions and specifications that need to be met in order for something to be great in our minds. For me, I want a movie that has a gripping story with excellent character work and something that makes me actually care. That's a fairly generic group of standards as I find myself to be rather easy to satisfy in this aspect, which helps me to be a more welcoming reviewer and critic overall. I'm not a nitpicker or someone who looks into the deep-rooted issues that come with film, I recognize that film is film and we can't treat it like life. Regardless of who I am though, we can all agree that if we were told 10 years ago that a movie following a kid growing up would be one of the best movies of the century, we most likely would have laughed. Well, I'm here to tell you all that movie exists, and it is a story that absolutely needs and deserves to be told. This is Boyhood.
Since Boyhood takes place over such an extremely large period of time it's hard to exactly nail down the entire story of this movie in one short paragraph, so I'll try to simplify as much as I can. We meet the young boy Mason at the ripe young age of 6 years old, and his family has been going through some issues. His mother and father are separated and only getting more and more of a divide built up between them, and he sees his mother's psyche being affected because of it. Over the course of the next 12 years Mason and his sister and taken on a journey through life, encountering abusive parents, friends with like minds, young love, and the worst chemical event of all: puberty. Boyhood shows Mason growing from a young boy into a man going away to college and for me, even though the film doesn't necessarily have a deeply gripping narrative (it really can't with the way the film is handled), it manages to grab onto you and never let go.
The reason Boyhood manages to grab the audience and never let them go is because of performances by all of the major characters. There's a cycling cast that changes throughout the years of Mason's life, but the mainstay of Mason is what makes this movie so powerful and sympathetic for audiences. Ellar Coltrane's portrayal of Mason evolves throughout the film, first showing a young boy with no idea of how the world works and just hoping for the best, but by the end, we see a young adult who has journeyed through some of the worst tribulations in life and came out a better person. It's beautiful and something I can't easily forget. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke's roles as his parents throughout the years if powerful as well. Seeing their relationship outside of Mason grow and change through the years is heartfelt and emotional in a way that many don't recognize. Truth be told, Boyhood's means to capture so many different topics and worlds over a two and a half hour movie are incredible and poignant.
Speaking of this movie as a whole, I really just want to talk about how this film grows and travels through it's long run time. Boyhood shows the growth of a boy into a young man. Mason isn't just any regular boy, he's creative and artistic, and sees the world differently than others. We see that influence his daily choices and his life as a whole, going so far as to affect the choices her mother makes in her own life. We all have these feelings throughout our lives of being different and outside of the norm and that's just what makes Boyhood such a special movie. Once again, I truly can't state just how powerful and emotionally impactful this movie is, but it's something that is incredibly unique in a world that focuses on pumping out a film in as little time as possible.
Think back to when you were a young child, do you remember the life you led then? It was carefree and exciting. You didn't worry about the darker realities that come later on or having your heart broken, you just enjoyed the days and had fun. This is what makes Boyhood such an incredible piece of cinema. We get to see Mason's entire journey through the years with the same cast of characters and actors, and seeing all of these characters evolve and grow in different ways makes it that much better. We see events shape these people through the years and just how they handle those changes. Richard Linklater isn't famous for too much, but if he's only left famous for Boyhood that wouldn't be a problem. It's an incredible film and something that everyone should go and see.
