Posts
A 12 year movie making process gave us “Boyhood,” which was directed and written by Richard Linklater. The stars include Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater, who is the director’s daughter. I absolutely loved this movie. The story, acting and movie creation are great. It even has a near perfect 99 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I definitely encourage every person to see this movie. There is nothing else like it out there so far.
I am just amazed how these actors and Linklater dedicated themselves to this project for 12 years. It’s fantastic to be able to actually watch the characters grow older and change over the course of the film. Everything from the haircuts and clothing to the music and Harry Potter showcase the passing years. I loved watching the boy’s haircuts over the years. They changed so drastically, whereas his sister’s didn’t. It’s the opposite from what I thought would’ve happened. These haircuts also helped me see the different periods of time easier.
This film follows the lives of a family, how they deal with some very rough challenges and how these challenges shaped their lives. It’s about Mason (Coltrane) growing up with his sister Samantha (Linklater) and their mom (Arquette). Their father (Hawke) spends time with them and is really interested in talking to them about their lives and getting to know them. Even though he is not with the mother, he plays a big part in their lives. The problems don’t feel like they were staged just to make everything more interesting.The story unfolds like real life and the audience gets to be a fly on the wall. There’s more that happens in this family’s life. We just get to see a portion of it.
The acting was really good. With so many years together, the actors have a real connection and feel like an actual family. They’ve had a lot of time with the characters, and the movie includes a lot of popular things during those years, so it feels like a true story. Hawke does really well in these roles lasting for a longer period.
Another great role was the music, which almost seemed like another character. As I mentioned earlier, the way music was used added a lot to the film. It helped distinguish what time the scenes were taking place and what that time was like. The changes in music went along well with the changes of the characters, showing everything’s evolution over time. Music is a very important tool to get the right tone of the film and get the audience more involved with what’s happening on screen.
“Boyhood” is two hours and 45 minutes long. It’s a little longer than an average movie, but I’m impressed Linklater got 12 years of filming down to this length. The movie doesn’t feel too long while watching it. However, it’s long enough to make the viewers feel all twelve of those years.
I have loved watching other Linklater films including “Before Midnight,” “Before Sunset,” “School of Rock” and “Before Sunrise.” Another movie of his, “Bernie,” I didn’t enjoy as much. I think it was well made, but the plot with that pace just wasn’t for me. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Linklater.
Hawke worked with Linklater in his “Before” trilogy, which were also fantastic. I’ve also seen Hawke in “New York, I Love You” and “Dead Poets Society.” The only other film I’ve seen Arquette in is “Holes.” This is the first thing from Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater I’ve seen. Now that this big project is over, I’m looking forward to seeing this cast in more movies.
