Boyhood (R)
21/09/14 12:46 Filed in: 2014
Starring: Ellar Coltrane
August 2014
This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!
Painting over height benchmarks...erasing history.
This clever chronological conceit serves as a microcosm for the movie as a whole: there’s a subtle symbolic link between the height measurements on the door jamb and the progressive growth of the children over the course of the film. In a sense, these markings are a type of baton handoff, since the tick marks on the door signify events that have transpired before the story begins. This brief visual device gives us a sense of history and is a springboard for the movie’s action. On another tack, I’m normally not given to bouts of emotion in movies, especially for characters I’ve just been introduced to, but this scene made me profoundly sad. I wanted to yell at the characters to take a picture before painting over the ruler markings. Lost milestones can never be recaptured.
Object lesson about no bumpers in real life.
A good point that’s made on the wrong occasion.
50 cents for the F word.
C’mon, charge him $10. The only way he’ll stop saying it is if it hurts a little.
“Everything’s a line.” Trouble on the home front.
Astros game. Clemens striking out batters half his age. Wonder how he was able to do that.
I apologize for my insensitivity, but this was way too easy.
Hawke has “the talk” with his kids.
Always an awkward topic…especially when broached at a bowling alley. Classy!
Nice long take of Hawke and his son hiking in the forest.
And some great dialog about how perplexing females can be to teenage boys…as well as grown men.
Mason gets a red letter edition and a rifle for his 15th birthday. A mixed message?
I suppose the commonality is that both are types of weapons: a sword and a shotgun.
Darkroom chat...totally demotivating.
How do idiots like this obtain jobs teachers? I’d really like to shove this guy’s face into the stop bath.
Commentary on humans becoming robots is profound.
I’ve used the same argument for why we’ve become so captivated by zombies.
Feeling the weight of the “empty nest” is a touching moment.
However, due to her poor choices in husbands, Mason’s mom brings middle-aged loneliness on herself.
“The moment seizes us.” Interesting life philosophy.
A beautiful location, profound dialog and pitch-perfect acting make this scene a poignant punctuation mark at the end of an elegant, thought-provoking film.
Final analysis: not an earth-shattering story, but a staggering achievement in film.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars. An insightful, meaningful survey of modern boyhood, brilliantly acted and directed.
We’ve all seen dozens of movies where different actors were used to portray a character at different stages of his life. Many times, the child or teen looks nothing like the adult version of the same character. Director Richard Linklater has devised a unique solution to this casting conundrum by filming the same actors over a twelve year period. The end result of the director’s audacious and ambitious filmic gambit is nothing short of astounding. By following the same family over an extended period of their lives, the viewer can more readily identify with the characters while also feeling emotionally connected to them. This kind of familial familiarity only comes from well constructed and conveyed character histories. While the adult actors sustain noticeable, yet minor, physical changes over the years, the kids, who were filmed at different checkpoints between the ages of six and eighteen, undergo the more drastic transformations. A perfect compliment to the film’s naturalistic aesthetic, watching the kids’ incremental growth is like experiencing a time condensed overview of the struggles, successes and significant events during their turbulent childhood. Whereas the adult story lines frequently focus on less compelling, soap opera style subplots, the through line involving the children’s journey from K-12 and beyond is thoroughly mesmerizing. In the same regard, even though Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette turn in fine performances, it’s Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater (the director’s daughter) who captivate us throughout the nearly three hour decade-spanning drama with their realistic portraits of modern young people. When all is said and done, it’s the maturation of these two burgeoning actors that furnishes the movie with its groundbreaking novelty. Without their perpetual presence and precocious performances the movie would be just another well acted, well directed drama. So now the question is, does Linklater have another dozen years in him to make the sequel, Girlhood?