Review of Boyhood (2014) by Genturgidson — 12 Jul 2014

I was expecting a sort of emotional roller coaster with moments of empathy, sadness, joy, etc. -- having gone through real-life boyhood myself -- but rarely did this film evoke that kind of personal attachment and investment for me.

Esquire has a Q&A with Linklater and Hawk in their latest issue, and in it they claim to have made a conscious effort to avoid cliches, but somehow they landed on a bunch of them anyway.

There are a few great moments, and generally very few missteps, but ultimately this film does not reach the upper echelons of movie lore. It's good, not great.

In short, I was expecting to cry. I had the box of tissues ready. Never came close.