BOYHOOD… Wow. We NEEEEEEDDDD to discuss this movie. Have you seen it? No? Not yet? That’s okay. Don’t exit out of the blog yet. Keep reading. Lemme give you the cliff notes.
Boyhood is a film written and directed by Richard Linklater about the life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to age 18.
You’re probably saying, “Uh-huh, so what? What’s the big deal about that?”
I’ll tell you what the big deal is. This tale took twelve years to make. Yup, you read that correctly. TWELVE YEARS. The movie started shooting in 2002 with a killer cast of actors. Those same actors committed to being on board for the long haul in order to see the entire process through to fruition.
Now that is an ambitious undertaking, don’t cha think? I’d say it’s an enormous feat! I mean, talk about staying in character! Have you ever heard of another movie made quite like that?
The lead character Mason, (sometimes referred to as MJ) played by Ellar Coltrane was only five years old in 2002 when production began. I sat with my own eyes and watched him grow up to the rightful age of eighteen on the big screen. Literally. The same kid. Over twelve years. Totally grown. How wild is that?
Patricia Arquette plays Mason’s mother, Olivia. She gives an outstanding performance. It’s no wonder she’s rackin’ up metal statues all over the place this awards season.
Lorelei Linklater hits it out of the park in the role of Samantha, Mason’s older sister. Watching her come of age on screen from a pretentious, know-it-all, big mouthed, little kid to a young girl whose since moved away to college is utterly remarkable. Her transformation both physically and emotionally is wild. Wild, I tell you!
….And then of course there is the acclaimed Ethan Hawke. Hawke plays MJ’s father, Mason Sr. The man does not age. At all. He looks exactly the same now as he did in 2002. I don’t know what the fuck he’s drinking or eating or not drinking or not eating, but the man looks fucking insane!
I don’t want to spoil it for you by giving away too many details. I realllllllly want you to see it for yourself because it’s that good. However I will give you some highlights of the thoughts that went through my unpolished head while I was watching the film.
12 UNPOLISHED THOUGHTS ON BOYHOOD’S 12 UNPOLISHED YEARS
1. How come Ethan Hawke doesn’t age?
2. Stepfathers suck. I’m so glad I’ll never be anyone’s Stepfather.
3. Hair. Each actor’s hairstyle practically has a role all of its own. Especially Mason’s hair. His coif goes from fabulous to more fabulous to less fabulous to awful to fabulous and back up to even more fabulous over the course of twelve years. I guarantee you there will be plenty of prepubescent boys everywhere rocking the Mason cut when this movie goes mainstream!
4. I’m obsessed with the car Ethan Hawke drives in this film. You will be too.
5. Mason Sr.’s explanation of how and why he arranged the song order on the homemade Beatles CD he gave to MJ is classic. Absolutely classic. I loved it and I couldn’t agree more with his theory!
6. Patricia Arquette had some great lines. My two favs:
“Don’t look back. It’s gonna be okay.”
“I’ll be a poor whore with a big house.”
7. I was not thrilled with one of the birthday gifts Mason received when he turned fifteen. I’m not giving it away…. But I trust you’ll be rooting for the same thing to happen that I was rooting for. (**let me know after you’ve seen the flick)
8. Seriously, how come Ethan Hawke doesn’t age??????
9. There’s some great scenes between MJ and his girlfriend, Sheena. One of my favorite scenes went down like this:
MJ: “I just feel like there are so many things that I could be doing and probably want to be doing that I’m just not.”
Sheena: “Why aren’t you?”
MJ: “I mean, I guess it’s just being afraid of what people would think. You know, judgement.”
Sheena: “Yah, I guess it’s really easy to say like, ‘I don’t care what everyone else thinks’ but everyone does. You know?”
MJ: “Exactly. I find myself so furious with all these people I’m in contact with just for controlling me or whatever. But you know they aren’t even aware they’re doing it.”
Sheena: “Yah. So in this perfect world where no one is controlling you, what’s different? What changes?
MJ: “Everything. I mean I just want to be able to do anything I want ‘cuz it makes me feel alive as opposed to giving me the appearance of normality. Whatever that means. I don’t think it means much.”
Sheena: “You’re kinda weird. You know that?”
MJ: “Is that a compliment?”
Sheena: “I don’t know. Do you want to be weird?”
MJ: “I don’t know. I don’t want to scare kids at the park or anything……”
10. At one point in the film MJ works in a restaurant as a busboy. His boss is awesome. It’s not a big role but he surprised me towards the end of the movie. His best line: “I got you pegged for fry cook this summer.” I also loved MJ’s Uncle (his Dad’s brother). He couldn’t be more unpolishedly inappropriate and let’s face it, doesn’t every kid need an unpolishedly inappropriate Uncle to offer unpolishedly inappropriate advice?
11. Soooooo, what’s the deal? Is Mason ever gonna bang Sheena? What the hell is he waiting for?
12. My favorite scene of the entire movie was a heart to heart talk about life between Father and Son.
Mason: “So what’s the point?”
Father: “Of what?”
Mason: “I don’t know… Of any of this. Of everything.”
Father: “Everything? What’s the point? I sure as shit don’t know. Neither does anybody else. I mean, we’re all just winging it, you know? Good news is you’re feeling stuff…..”
JUST TO LET YOU KNOW…… Boyhood is the winner of 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress. Patricia Arquette won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Ethan Hawke was nominated for a SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and the Ensemble Cast was nominated for a SAG award in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Boyhood has received six Oscars nominations for the upcoming 2015 Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actress and an Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Writing, Screenplay, and Best Achievement in Editing.
If you can’t find Boyhood playing in your local theaters, don’t worry! You can now watch the 2 hour and 46 minute film in the comfort of your own home. Boyhood is available for rent or purchase via various platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Google Play. You can also check with your cable provider for additional Video On Demand options.
I hope you take the time to catch the movie. You won’t be sorry! I lovvvvvved it and I think you will too!
As they say in the film, It’s about the moments… and those moments are always right now!
Jeez Silver — well even though we agree what an amazing film, I waited and waited for it to be released in the theatres to see it the first day — now you are writing about it b/c it is released on DVD — you gotta be more current with the times — I expect more from you……….
@RBB… I can’t believe I almost got an entirely positive comment from you. Phew, I’m glad to see you haven’t softened up and you still know how to criticize my not-so-current blog topics. I’ll have to work on that. As much as I LOVE movies I don’t get out that much which explains the delayed article. When you’ve been held hostage at home for ten straight days with a cold that you can’t kick, you get to catch up on all the Oscar contenders (worth the $14.99) Should I write about American Sniper next? I did see that in the theaters! Or should I stick to DVD so you can bash me?
Re: Boyhood. We watched all 2 hrs and 46 minutes at home. Liked every minute. My understanding of the film is life is what it is. Go with it, live with it, that’s what it is. The last 3 minutes of the film summed it all up. Dad
Total journey. It is what it is. Nothing fancy or pretty, just real life. The only fake thing was how they had to ‘age’ Ethan Hawke after 12 years of shooting. 12 years! Fuck, he knows something. See you in that hot-ass amazing room with all the yoga mats n all.
@Bethany… Agreed x 100. As far as yoga… If I could only lose this cough, I’d be back at yoga!