Reviewer: Nikki Prantil
Rating: 2.5/4 Director: Richard Linklater Writer: Richard Linklater Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, Ethan Hawke After its immense success at the Golden Globe Awards, winning three of its six nominations including Best Picture, Patricia Arquette for Best Supporting Actress, and Richard Linklater for Best Director of a Motion Picture, Boyhood began gaining attention from audiences world-wide. The idea of Boyhood interested me from the first time I saw the trailer, following a group of lead characters through twelve years of their lives and watching them grow as the plot developed. However, it was one that I believed could wait until the DVD release, as I never found the trailer theater-worthy ($12.50 worthy…) as I did with American Sniper, Foxcatcher, and The Imitation Game. After its success at the Golden Globes, however, I believed I may have been proven wrong. The story begins with six-year old Mason, his slightly older sister Samantha, and their single mother living in a small home in Texas. The movie is set up in a series of phases, each lasting about 15-20 minutes and showing the characters about a year older than they were in the previous phase. Mason’s family is representative of middle-class America, and he faces many realistic and relatable challenges, such as dealing with divorced parents, moving with his family from home to home so his mother can make ends meet, living with an alcoholic, abusive step-father, and struggling with finding himself in a world that he finds simplistic and superficial. One of the things I found most interesting from the very first scene was that Linklater strived to make each phase of the children’s life culturally accurate, including music fads like Britney Spears’ ‘Oops I did it Again’, and allusions to the War on Terror and the Obama v. McCain election of 2008. As a 20-year-old, I felt that I was growing up alongside Mason, and that what he was experiencing throughout each phase of his life matched what I was facing at the exact same time. Technology developed with him as it developed with me, and through this aspect I was able to find a personal connection that I believe older audiences may have missed out on. Another thing that I truly enjoyed about the movie was that not a single character felt “acted.” Though I didn’t believe the actors had a very difficult job, nor did their roles require much skill (with the exception of Patricia Arquette) I still thought the characters were very believable. Yes, they were awkward, but it seemed natural. This may be a stretch, but the characters were almost Napolean Dynamite- like… they made me uncomfortable, but they still felt real. Patricia Arquette portrayed her role perfectly, a vulnerable and devoted mother who allows herself to give in to temptation and always falls for the alcoholic asshole. Ethan Hawke’s role should not be overlooked either, though, Mason’s father who’s parenting skills only begin to improve when he has a family of his own, and who never fails to remind Mason and Samantha that they were accidents. Overall, I found myself very connected to the characters in Boyhood. Linklater did an incredible job showing their transitions through every phase of their life, and allowing what could have been a stagnant plot to remain moderately dynamic and interesting. Though I thought the storyline was quite dry, it was also realistic, and showed the best family portrayal that has ever been done in Hollywood.
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Authors:Pat Brennan: Recent Film grad from Temple University with a love for all aspects of film. David Fincher for life. Archives:
November 2016
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