Film Review: Boyhood
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Originally published at ScottFeinberg.com
I don’t think I can recall having as transformative screening experience at a film festival as I did with Boyhood. This new film from Richard Linklater was a picture 12 years in the making and the finished product is a wonderfully epic sojourn into the life of a child as he grows into a young man. Dazzling without being over the top, soulful without being pandering, Boyhood is a great film that leaves you a changed person at the end.
We first meet Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) at age 6. His parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke) are divorced and he’s concerned more with riding his bike with a friend and painting graffiti on random bridges. As the film progresses, we see the family move from their house, his mother get remarried twice, and all the while track Mason’s growth as a person and how his experiences shape him.
It’s so difficult to know where to begin with the analysis of this film, as there are so many elements that had to go right in order for this to work. In that case it might be best to start with Richard Linklater’s daring decision to film this over a period of 12 years. Authenticity is so important in filmmaking, and with Boyhood, he’s crafted perhaps the most authentic coming of age tale I’ve seen. It’s one thing to make a movie that deals with coming of age but to keep the same core group of actors and allow us to watch them is a treat. But more than just a visual thing, each segment of Mason Jr.’s life felt thoroughly composed and thought through on a storytelling level. The songs that are included in the different segments, how the conversations are framed, this is a first class production.
Allowing this to take place is one of the most delightful scripts. This is an epic (nearly three hours) and more time/words doesn’t necessarily equal success. Luckily for Boyhood, the film’s script spends just the right amount of time in each phase of Mason’s life. More important than this, the script doesn’t dally in meaninglessness, even the most hilarious conversations (and the movie is very funny) have a bigger meaning and all feel directed back to the task at hand. The movie is also vanity free, it shows how fun-awkward-enragaging-scary growing up can be, and yet it doesn’t try to teach some kind of life lesson.
Familiarity with actors can be such a key element to making a performance work and the fact that we see these actors age, especially Ellar Coltrane, in the film proves to be Linklater’s most effective gambit and the actors reward him with great performances. Ethan Hawke is at his most subtly affecting here as the father who tries his best to be in his children’s lives. Having someone as recognizable as Hawke in a part like this yet assured enough to try goofy things, really worked at giving the film some levity. Patricia Arquette is an extremely solid presence in any film and here she fully embodies this character. She had a tough task, a working single mother who gets remarried and struggles right along with her kids, but it’s one of the most soulful, naturalistic performances you’re likely to see this year. Her final scenes with her children, particularly when her son goes off to college and a chance encounter in a restaurant with a waiter just leave you emotionally in tatters.
But make no mistake this movie completely belongs to Ellar Coltrane as Mason Jr. I highly doubt we’ll see anything as special as watching an actor literally grow up before our eyes in a film. This was a titanic responsibility for the young actor, and my word does the young man succeed. Salmon’s performance is truly wonderful, especially when he gets to the high school years, and I can only hope he continues with acting because he’s a natural.
I am sure I could spend another 1000 words detailing each step the film takes, but it perhaps the best to leave off here. Boyhood is a film that I’m sure I will contemplate for the remainder of the year, and well on into the future. It’s a marvelous film that will truly stand the test of time.
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