By now, I'm sure everyone has heard of Richard Linklater's "Boyhood"; its the film that took literally 12 years to make. Over this period of 12 years, for a few days, Linklater (serving not only as the film's director, but writer as well) and his cast and crew would assemble for a few days or so every year to revisit the characters, slowly inching towards its emotional conclusion.
Boyhood is a strangely simple title given the laundry list of themes the film explores. Sure, at the center is Mason (Coltrane) who we are watching literally age and grow up. But besides that, Linklater tackles abusive relationships, coming of age, falling in love, absent parents, and (briefly) sex, drugs and alcohol; with Boyhood, Linklater has taken snapshots in time and assembled them into the human experience.
When we first meet Mason, he's 6 years old, living with divorced mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and older sister Samantha (Linklater's real life daughter Lorelei Linklater). The family is getting ready to move so Olivia can go back to college, and hopefully get a job as a teacher. Occasionally popping in is father Mason Sr (Ethan Hawke), who is usually off doing his own thing (we're never really told what it is he's doing), but finds time to take his kids to a baseball game, camping or bowling every once in awhile.
Linklater follows these 4 over the film's duration, and sees them moving and growing in different directions. Olivia remarries 2 times in an attempt to create a stable family unit for her children, but ultimately is able to be on her own and sustain herself. Mason Sr. spends most of his time galavanting as a faux-musician, but ultimately settles down with a new wife, whose parents are huge bible thumpers. Samantha tortures her brother (in true older sister fashion), changes hair colors, and in the end goes off to college. And Mason, our protagonist, experiments with alcohol, drugs, sex and girlfriends, while finding a passion for photography in the meantime.
The story is told in vignettes, only truly tied together by the film's characters. There's no real payoff throughout the film; we're simply watching these characters age before our eyes, silent voyeurs to their individual or shared experiences. However, right at the film's end, the relevance is made completely clear; Boyhood is a mosaic of smaller stories and even smaller themes tied loosely together to represent the bigger picture: life, in all of its meandering, emotional, quiet, loud, and beautiful moments.
Not to say it's a perfect film, because like life, it's not. The looseness of the film is a bit jarring; Linklater relies on music and little references to signify the year whatever part of Mason's life we're watching is taking place (the film opens with Coldplay's "Yellow" [2000], Mason Sr. talks to his kids about Bush's invasion of Iraq [2003], we hear Cobra Starship's "Good Girl's Gone Bad playing on a radio [2009]), which is both rewarding and jarring. On one hand, it's challenging the audience to work a little bit, but it's confusing to have these large jumps in time; sometimes characters are just dropped altogether, and though you can probably guess what happened to them, it can get confusing.
Overall, however, this sin (which could have been fixed with tighter editing) is easily atoned by Linklater's film, which is surrounded with genuine and heartfelt efforts by all involved. For one, the earlier sequences (the early 2000's) play as if we are reliving moments because they were shot and recorded at those very moments, instead of staging and scripting these moments in true Hollywood "flashback" fashion. The actors are all great, but it's Patricia Arquette's performance that stood tallest to me. Not only is it an emotional performance, but a brave one; Arquette let herself simply age onscreen throughout the many years this film was filming. There is no makeup to conceal her true age or appearance, just time, and it looks amazing on her, but adds so much to her performance.
Boyhood is unlike anything I have ever seen, and the first movie of its kind; I doubt any other director could have captured such a grandiose, towering film with such naturalism and honesty. Instead of explaining what life is about, Linklater shows you, literally letting you experience life through this series of anecdotes which build to a bigger, beautiful and profound experience. It's a concept that takes a little while to sink in, and I'll admit, leaving the theater I was a little confused as to why I just watched what I watched for about 3 hours. But Boyhood's punch wallops you slowly, until it comes all at once, and you're left in total awe of what you just experienced
Grade: A
Oscar Chances: Oddly enough, Director might be the film's best shot; there is so much goodwill for Linklater, who is considered to be one of the greats, and there are many fans of his "Before" trilogy (he has been recognized as a Screenwriter 2 times by the Academy). Best Picture shouldn't be too far off either, as the expanded field and IFC's planned campaign should go well hand in hand. Of the actors, Arquette stands the best chance at being nominated. It's a slim chance mind you, but a weak Supporting Actress category should help her chances.
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