Review of Boyhood (1951) by Dan B — 19 Jan 2016

'Boyhood' is written and directed by Richard Linklater, the man behind the far superior 'Before' trilogy. The film works with an experiment, of filming the same boy grow over a 12 year period. It's easy to be distracted by this, and not look beyond the gimmick for all the other things that make a true 'masterpiece', that 'Boyhood' is missing.

The 12 year filming idea is undoubtedly impressive. It's totally unique, and it does work. The time changes are seamless, and the change in quality has been masked by some pretty brilliant editing. Also, as we journey back over the last t2 years, we are treated to a fair bit of nostalgia, which is a nice touch, albeit a little distracting.

One more positive is the performances of Ethan Hawke, undoubtedly the best part of the film, and Patricia Arquette, who won an Oscar for her role. Beyond these highlights, the film fails to offer much else.

It's a film claiming to be this truly realistic portrayal of the adolescence of a young boy, but that has been wrongfully highly regarded, when plenty of films have done this better in the past. The 12 year 'gimmick' does make it intimate and realistic, but that's really of the film has to offer. Whether Linklater likes it or not, movies do require an actual plot, and 'Boyhood' lacks one. It's true that there are minor plot points that we witness as he grows up, but there is no overall narrative outside of 'boy grows up'. If audiences wanted a documentary, there are plenty around, but film's require a plot, and characters that we care about, and this film has neither.

With the film's central character, Mason, we are given a boy who is not even all that likeable. Admittedly, Ellar Coltrane's emotionless performance doesn't help, but as someone who was thrown into acting at a young age, he can be forgiven. Even so, the character himself is not likeable. Linklater fails to give us someone engaging or interesting in any way, and whose way of thinking actually comes across like nothing more than a pretentious, self-righteous teenager, and in a film that solely relies on us caring about him, it fails massively.

Ultimately, 'Boyhood' is a long, plotless, tiresome movie with no real intrigue, that has been coasting on an admittedly impressive idea, and a couple of great performances in Hawke. It's worth a watch once, but it's nowhere near as important as the filmmakers and many critics would have you believe. It's three stars are for Hawke, Arquette, and for Linklater, who admirably attempted something so original, at a time when Hollywood is becoming repetitive.