Review of Boyhood (2014) by Unionjack26 — 12 Jan 2015

Well, no matter how much work you put into it, if it's not good, it's not good... and doesn't deserve accolades for effort...

I've seen some of Linklaters and Malicks films and I'm not a fan... not to say I have to be, but if you're going up for an award some things should be paramount... (Tree of Life is still the worst award nominated film I've ever subjected myself to)...

A plot would be nice... a story... a payoff... consistency... competent acting... believable dialogue... character development... motivation are just a few things I'd expect in an award nominated film... It didn't take me on a journey... It showed me a series of pointless scenes to show a passage of time... Seemed like a lot of it was written (or ad-libbed) as they went (later confirmed to a degree by his daughter)...

The liberal agenda (which I mostly agree with) was stuck in there too obviously and made it feel even more like a really bad LIfetime movie...

Reading the reviews, it comes across as people pretending to like or understand the film to fit in, be in the know or appear smart... I prefer to take a serious look at this and be truthful...

I was looking forward to the film... I read the hype, was excited about the premise and am fan of new exciting film ideas... but they have to be well executed... (that's the thing)...I'd like to know what about this film was done well?

Linklater had 12 years to plan out a script, story, plot... to direct the actors to better performances... he had a $4 million budget (with no stunts, SFX, costumes, sets, etc)... He made the most basic of films types: I dialogue-driven drama with no costly name actors... There is no excuse...

If I come across harsh, it's because this film received so much unwarranted or deserving hype and rave reviews... Had this won at a film festival and went to DVD, great.... good for them... For this to be beating out other great films for awards (and for acting and directing too?!?!?!), it deserves some questioning into what the hell are people liking about it?

Is Linklater blackmailing everyone? Were all the critics bribed? Is he best friends with Kim Jong Un?

This film fails to exceed in any of the categories set forth by the awards shows... I'm so glad the SAG Awards are coming soon, so I can gauge how it'll do up against some other greats films... I don't think I can stomach the Oscars if Boyhood is a frontrunner...

Does this film have any rewatchablilty for anyone not involved with the production? Were they any "positive" stand-out performances? Powerful moments? Surprises/twists? Engaging story? Characters to care about?

One last question I'd like to pose...Taking out the fact that all the main actors were available to work at various points within a 12 year period; that is, no one died or decided to quit (though Linklater's daughter wanted her character killed off because she didn't want to do it anymore, to which he said 'no, it would be too powerful for the film' - so instead, nothing happens)...