Review of Boyhood (2014) by Adlai N — 31 May 2015

One thing that film hasn't really done yet is capturing the subtleties and often unseen beauty of life that constantly surrounds us. It's the little things that we often take for granted that mainly get left by the wayside when they are approached and are only realized for what they are long after its been put out of mind. Boyhood contains and reveals all those little things as well as some big things to show an intricate portrayal of life from a young kid's perspective. With intimate detail and truthful honesty, it's unlike any film before and possibly won't be another film like it. Boyhood isn't simply just about a kid growing up, but how all life is seamless and interconnected as one. You could call it the film about nothing, which would be a fair assumption but much like the classic sitcom Seinfeld that held that unique distinction, it contains everything.

It is 2002 and six year old Mason Evans, Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) is looking up at the sky full of clouds in wonderment as Coldplay's Yellow plays. He is a precocious child who often daydreams with a unique perspective. His mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) is divorced and pretty unlucky when it comes to love. She raises Mason as well as her daughter Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), a hyperactive girl who often teases her brother Mason. Mason Evans Sr. (Ethan Hawke) is their father who pops up sometimes to take away the kids for the weekend and is somewhat of a slacker who imbibes in pot, plays in a band and drives a classic Pontiac GTO. Over the course of twelve years, Mason's life is formulated and his identity is revealed to the man that he will eventually be, from first grade all the way to the very first day of college.

Director and screenwriter Richard Linklater is well known for his great casts and puts together a great mixture of young unknowns and well respected screen veterans. Coltrane was amazing as Mason and was just as good as and mainly better than most child actors. His growth into an adult actor was downright believable and you can see a clear progression of his talents that looked really natural. Over the course of twelve years, he showed amazing empathy, fear, confusion, anger and compassion that didn't feel overdone. Every emotion shown felt just like it should have and there wasn't one that was left out. Coltrane went over the entire composite of feelings and then went back again. The journey on seeing him grow up was out of this world and you forget you are watching the same kid from a few years ago. It's easy to see a bit of yourself in him, not entirely but we all have been in the same social situations as him in some degree with much of the same reactions.

After a while, you share his distorted view of the world, or at least I did. I often get involved in my thoughts of conspiracies and government control like him while also being a sort of cynic in many ways. He was a character I could easily relate too based on his taste in music like Paul McCartney and Bright Eyes and his favorite movies of 2008, The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express. I already want to be his best friend on some of his favorite movies alone. Coltrane played him with likability and an easiness that made him easy to root for and get behind. Lorelei Linklater, who is the daughter of Richard, was more outspoken in her role as the somewhat bratty sister. She made for a great dynamic against the more soulful Coltrane and they showed great chemistry as sister and brother. Funny and often brash, she says what no one thinks to say.

Hawke was somewhat low key but that's just how his character is handled. He has a way about himself that is just so chilled and cool which made his role as weekend paternal dad all the more perfect. He isn't around all the time but is there when he is needed, giving out advice to his kids when they don't want to hear it like safe sex, bumpers on bowling lanes and the ultimate CD mix of The Beatles singles career post breakup titled The Black Album. This may be the coolest gift of all time and possibly the greatest collection of music ever put together. The wisdom he disposes is often very dad like, helpful and he never seems to be out of that role even if he isn't married to their mother anymore.

Arquette stole much of the movie as many of the dramatic elements contained her in the center. As a single mother raising two kids by herself who is struggling for work, she portrays a view of motherhood like no other film has, where tough decisions and hard choices have to be made for her and her family. It got to be rather alarming seeing her go through these issues but continuing to go on, mainly because she can't really stop for the sake of her children. She pines for order and discipline of some kind but reaches out too far when she lands some domineering, drunk assholes as husbands. Mason Sr. was too nonchalant about being a husband and father, causing her to seek out a stronger father figure but it caused more damage than it was worth. Arquette was strong, human, and infallible and like most mothers easy to disagree and find fault with the things she sometimes says. But in the end, you know deep down that she always had the best intentions and was right for the most part. She was equal parts loving and warm while being stern and forceful with a lot of things getting out of her control causing her to become more and more harried by everything around her.

Linklater's films usually go by the beat of their own drum and don't really adhere to the norms of many 21st century films and styles. Even then it's shocking to know that he filmed a single movie over the course of 12 years, getting the cast back together every year for a few weeks. It's original in every way and still something that fits exactly with Linklater's style. I couldn't picture him doing this any other way afterwards but would easily see many other directors failing at such a revolutionary concept. He simply knows how to stretch a simple idea into something more, giving you something you never expected.

This isn't his first foray into creating something unique as A Scanner Darkly showed a visual delight for the mind and eyes. He burst upon the scene with his classic Slacker but His magnum opus will remain Dazed And Confused, but Boyhood may be his masterpiece. He is surely in the top running for best picture, director and screenplay when the Oscar nominations come out and I'd be surprised if he doesn't win all three come February. The style he uses is unlike any other director as he gets to know every main character intimately, getting to know their desires, dreams and fears. He paints a great image of who these people are, unique in their own way but just a regular person you see every day on the street. His direction was subtle and incredibly nuanced with seemingly minor details being a much bigger part of the whole picture. There were some moments with the step fathers where it got downright frightening and really pulled you out of the movie for a bit. It was hard to see where it was going to go and you hoped it wouldn't go down an ugly road.

There wasn't much character development from the children as there really didn't need to be since they are continually growing. The parents on the other hand go through a litany of changes that jump through time so you don't get that build up that you would see in other films. How they develop isn't as important as the kids and it makes the idea of life changings in an instant in their lives more palpable. Olivia struggles to gain a balance of normalcy by going back to school to be a professor to better provide for her children and as she does so, she attaches herself to men to provide her with emotional as well as monetary support. It doesn't always work out the way she hopes and she bounces from house to house, placing her kids in new schools and homes. Mason Sr. just wants to be a better father for his kids and give them a feeling of normalcy that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten anywhere else.

He starts off rather irresponsible but eventually becomes the father and husband that he always wanted to with his girlfriend and son. Bit by bit he morphs into a responsible adult, getting a job as an insurance salesman and losing his cool slacker dad status but only after long having children and being married. Olivia seems to be going downward while Mason Sr. is in a slight upswing, it's pretty sad seeing her struggle but getting no admiration for it and you wait to see everything get a little bit better for her. But you can't help but feel good that Mason Sr. is being the wife and dad that he was originally supposed to be and forming a sense of normalcy. The ending may be the most disheartening of the movie as it has Olivia trying to make sense of her life; really powerful and truthful scene with a great performance by Arquette.

Linklater is also a masterful storyteller who excels in bringing out the angst of people of all ages, no matter who they are. He knows how to bring real life situations out in the forefront and portraying them in a way that is unbelievably realistic. Boyhood may be the most beautiful story that I have seen from a film all year. It's so encompassing and inclusive that it would be impossible for none of it to touch you emotionally. The simplicity it showed and the dedication it showed to portray it to the fullest makes it one of the most developed and comprehensive stories in a long while. From moving to a new house, new school, starting over, divorce, schmuck bosses, graduation, the opposite sex, creative expression, getting a terrible haircut and so on. It reaches for everything all at once and comes down with all of them in hand.

I easily found more than one aspect of the story to be relatable to me which touched me more so than any other film has this year. I myself hate getting haircuts but had it nowhere near as bad as Mason who was forced by an authoritative jerk step dad. It's hard to find another film like that where it transports your feelings and emotions from a particular event and have it play out in a similar manner more or less on screen. The ups and downs including all the middles in the film makes them even more awkward, funny, heartfelt and introspective watching them from one who has experienced them. He captures what makes up the human spirit and what it means to be alive, in the moment. Like many of his films, he praises individuality while still being a part of society and being mindful not to include overly political and religious stances. It lets them happen and come about naturally and doesn't make too big a deal about it when it is brought up.

It packs in as much drama, heart, humor, resonance, ethos, pathos and logos as humanly possible while covering everything that a young kid would go through from drugs, alcohol and staying out late but approached in a relaxed manner or intentionally left off screen so the mom would deal with it. Everything that is happening to these characters effects them and molds them to whom they eventually will be, not forgetting that a certain thing happened. There was much immense care taken to make sure that the lives that are shaped don't feel thrown together or without reason. Linklater wrote the script as he went along every year and made adjustments to the characters based on what happened to the actors they portrayed. With a film such as this, changes are simply inevitable and warranted. The story perfectly executed and built up to highlight the monumental moments of one's young life. With every year being full of superheroes, wild action, sappy rom-coms and goofy comedies, it's refreshing to see some normal people portrayed on screen and not have the story build up to something grand and epic.

It was fun going back in time and revisiting some of the biggest pop culture moments of the last decade. It was like a three hour time capsule of all that America has seen and experienced. It's similar to those stupid but addicting I Love The (insert decade here) anthologies from VH1. With every year being a new chapter in Mason's life, I found out what year it was by what event was going on. Whether it was the Obama election, midnight sale of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and seeing Roger Clemens pitch for the Huston Astros. The soundtrack was also excellent, taking in some of the best indie bands and some of my favorites of the last decade like The Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire and Yo La Tengo. Knowing that it's nearly three hours, it really didn't feel like it as soon as I got into it. I happened to pause it exactly near the middle at around eighty minutes or so, took a break and went right back into it. I honestly couldn't get enough of it and wouldn't mind if it went longer.

Few films offer an experience while watching it, but that is exactly what Boyhood is. It is simply something that cannot easily be put to words and has to be seen to realize its extensive vision and grandiose scope. One should not judge it by a short viewing and must allow it to fully encapsulate you so you see it for what it truly is. There has to be ample time for it to sink in and you are allowed to process everything that you have seen. While there is a lot, once you see the big picture, you see how enthralling it is. Mason Sr. puts life in great perspective when he breaks down a track list for The Black Album, going from partying, faith, love and pain to appreciating what we have. He stresses the balance that is needed for greatness, saying that's what made The Beatles the greatest band in the world, and it's something that everyone should utilize to achieve whatever they wanted. Mason bookends with a perspective of his own on how it's not about seizing the moment but letting the moment seize you. It's not about collecting moments that are supposedly required by others to succeed but not being so obsessed by attaining these goals that you miss out on other possibly more important things like happiness. In a film full of theologies, it doesn't stress one over the other and allows the viewer to believe what the best course is. By seeing Mason's perspective shift and mold with time, he appears to achieve what he has always wanted in life and in turn what we all want to achieve. For a film that has no plot or theme, it's the most eye opening and revelatory that movies have been in ages. Five classic Pontiac GTO's out of five.