Review of Boyhood (2014) by Bill P — 08 Apr 2015

This film had great potential, but, in my opinion, was completely ruined by the insertion of overt political propaganda.

Early in the movie, and irrelevantly to the plot, I was treated to harsh criticism of George Bush. I'd hoped this was just an anomaly, and that the director would resist further childishness and focus on the film. But, shortly after, I was subjected to swooning praise of Barack Obama, with the family members engaging in their civic duty to post Obama political signs, while stealing McCain signs.

There was lots of gushing for Obama in the "sign scene," but the director wasn't satisfied staying positive: one of the children asked if he could place a sign in someone's yard, and the owner verbally abused the child, going as far as to say he could shoot the child if he wanted to. Then, it was pointed out that the man had a confederate flag in his yard. I can only infer that the director wishes us to believe that anyone who does not support Obama must be an angry, racist, potential murderer.

I was struggling to look the other way up to this point, foolishly hoping that something could be salvaged from the movie, in spite of the petty propaganda. Then, the father used the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter as a "teachable moment" for his daughter, stressing how important it is to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

At that point I gave up. An effort was made to get a refund, which sadly failed. I see absolutely nothing wrong with a director destroying his art with the injection of propaganda like this, as long as I don't have to pay for it (I don't, of course, and should have done more research before purchasing this movie).