Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater
My Rating: Loved It!!
Budget: $4 Million
Box Office: $26 Million (so far)(according to wikipedia)
Boyhood is an American classic, period. Movies are great because they show a snapshot of a time and a place; Boyhood simply multiplied this by 12. The worst part about Boyhood for me was when the credits rolled.
I've read a lot of people say in reviews that there isn't any plot in this movie. Well, there is: the kid's life. Not only do we get to see the kids and the parents age throughout the film, we get to see Linklater excel as a director throughout the years; which was even more interesting to me than the aging aspect. Each year is better than the last, and that made the almost 3 hour run time fly by.
It's astounding that this film was even made, really. There are so many factors that could've completely messed the movie up. The kids could've grown up to be something different than Linklater had envisioned. IFC, who funded the film, could've easily gone out of business during the 12 years. The adult actors, or even Richard Linklater, could've died during the 12 years. It's actually incredible that anyone funded this movie, but man, I'm glad they did.
There was only one scene in this movie that I didn't care for - only one, out of three hours. And it was when Mason was in 8th grade and hanging out with his friends and their older high school siblings. I get that Linklater wanted to show peer pressure in action and he wanted kids fooling around and being hard on each other, but this scene was horribly acted by the other kids. It obviously didn't ruin the movie for me, but the whole scene was awkward because of the way the dialogue was delivered by the kids.
I think Boyhood stands alone as the movie that best captures the essence of life. It's just a series of moments. In my opinion, Boyhood should be on this year's list of Best Pictures at the Oscars. It's a landmark in the history of cinema.