Boyhood - Movie Review

I am guessing that most of my loyal readers are familiar with this movie since it has been advertised a lot in recent weeks.  I was lucky enough to see it shortly after it first hit the theatres - I was really looking forward to it.

My readers may remember some movie reviews from earlier this summer - a series of 3 that are "Before..."  They were all written and directed by Richard Linklater and stared Ethan Hawke as was Boyhood.  The premise of the series of 3 was that they had the same actors playing the same roles but each movie was 9 years later than the previous, so the story was a continuation of the lives of the fictional characters in 9 year increments. Each movie was told mostly in real time, and each consisted of a long conversation between the 2 main characters.  The premise of Boyhood  is very similar although there is more action, and there are a lot more characters. In this case, the filming was done a little bit every year for 12 years using the same performers.  Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play the parents of Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater (she is 2 years older than he).  The story follows the life of the boy from when he enters school until he graduates 12 years later.

Here are a couple of photos that shows Ellar's aging as the filming progressed:

My viewing companion loved the movie.  It seemed to be everything she'd hoped it would be.  I, on the other hand was a little disappointed.  I love the premise, and I found it very cool to see the actors age over 12 years as they did in real life - it's just not the same when done with make-up.  I liked the fact that you have the same actor playing a child and a young adult rather than having to change actors when a child ages.  I thought the movie was well made and maintained consistency over the 12 years of filming.

I also liked the fact that it seemed very real.  The characters and the story seemed like it really could have been a documentary of the lives of this family.  However, I found the movie to be long (almost 3 hours) and a little slow and boring in places.  (Honestly, I almost fell asleep.) I was also bothered by the fact that some bits of the story were left hanging.  Because they were covering 12 years in 3 hours, there were some necessary jumps ahead in time, but I wished that the transitions could have been smoother.  

I would recommend the movie over-all.  I think it is worth seeing because of the interesting premise of filming.  However, I wouldn't expect it to be a life-changing experience. 

If you've seen the movie, please share your thoughts with me! I'd love to hear what you thought!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to feed the fish.

:)Amy