Review of Boyhood (2014) by Opinionatedguy — 03 Dec 2014

When I first heard that there is a movie that took 12 years to shoot, I was amazed as an aspiring filmmaker but I remain a bit worried that the movie is more of a gimmick. When I saw the trailer, I was wrong. And when I saw the movie, I was totally wrong as well. This movie is not a gimmick at all.

Even though this movie felt like a cinematic experience because of the way it was made, this movie felt real. Like this is the realistic film I have ever seen.

The plot of the movie was realistic and well-paced from start to finish. They used the really long 2 hour and 45 minutes length really well. Despite how long it was, when the movie ended I got sad that I won’t see these people ever again because seeing them grow up is like a journey with them.

As this movie’s plot heavily rely on character development, the movie had the most realistic character development ever. It’s like I am watching these people grow up and loving them no matter how much they change.

The script feels amazing in this movie. The dialogues in this movie is also really realistic. They felt like real people talking to each other realistically.

The acting in this movie makes the actors don’t look like they’re actors playing their characters but rather they’re playing themselves and that’s the main factor why the movie felt realistic to me.

The emotional appeal in this movie do not feel manipulative to me. It made me care for the characters without trying too hard to do so. It feels like the actors have real emotions in this movie.

Lastly, the direction from Richard Linklater is amazing in this film. He manages to keep the movie’s quality consistent for each scene for 12 freaking years! I give props to his experimentation value in this movie.

2014 has not ended yet but I think it’s safe to say that Boyhood (for now at least) is the best 2014 film I have ever seen and it’s also the most realistic movie I have ever seen thanks to it’s cinematic experience, well-paced plot, brilliant character development that makes you care about the characters, realistic acting and an amazing direction experimental value from Richard Linklater.