Boyhood Review

Family, Friends, and Finding Yourself

Actor Ellar Coltrane and Director Richard Linklater
Boyhood | IFC Films | Universal Pictures

Ellar Coltrane and Richard Linklater, years later.
Boyhood | IFC Films | Universal Pictures

Boyhood | Directed By Richard Linklater | R | 2 H 45 MIN

Written by Jocelyn Illing

Richard Linklater is a director who makes films that appear astonishingly real due to his enthralling scripts, and the impeccable talent of his actors. His 2014 drama Boyhood took realism to a whole new level by filming the project over the course of 12 years, allowing the audience to watch the actors grow alongside their characters. Through his film, Linklater proves that human expression finds its most powerful form in storytelling. Apart from being a form of entertainment, storytelling acts as a sort of oral history and allows voices to be heard. People to relate to one another’s experiences through their stories. Filmmaking has created a new form of storytelling that is both auditory and visual. Many filmmakers strive to use the tools at their disposal, such as lights, cameras, costumes and actors, to tell a story that is as authentic as possible. With Boyhood, Linklater has taken these tools and created a film that accurately displays a specific part of the vast human experience: growing up in early 21st century middle class America.
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Boyhood chronicles the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from ages six to eighteen as he grows up, learns about life, all the while struggling to figure out who he is. His mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) is a hardworking woman, trying to make ends meet for her family. His father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke a.k.a. The Love of My Life) has been divorced from his mother for many years but continues to have a strong presence in his children’s lives by taking them on weekend excursions and appearing as the “good cop” parent in comparison to Olivia’s “bad cop.” His older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) often argues with him, and has a charming fascination with early 2000s music and pop culture. Over the course of almost three hours we watch as Mason changes schools, attends Harry Potter midnight releases, has his first drink and goes off to college, experiences that might resonate with many people, including myself.  

Boyhood | IFC Films | Universal Pictures

As previously mentioned, what makes this film so fascinating is the fact that this film’s production history spans over a decade. Linklater’s artistic choice to shoot the actors as they aged alongside the characters not only adds authenticity to the film, but it also abolishes the jolt that many audiences experience while watching a film in which different actors play the same character at different stages in life. Many times, while watching a film, I have experienced this disruption and it has almost ruined the movie for me, as it forces me to work to figure out who is who. Boyhood’s continuity with its actors helps to hold the audience’s attention and made them truly believe in the character’s growth, making it seem as though we are literally watching Mason grow up. I have never seen something quite as ambitious, or successful, as Linklater’s style of filmmaking. His ability to pick out the important pieces from our adolescences and create a realistic portrayal of growing up is commendable. It is as if I grew up with Mason, experienced the same struggles as him and found myself in similar situations.
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At the 87th annual Academy Awards, Boyhood received 6 nominations – Supporting Actress, Motion Picture of the Year, Supporting Actor, Achievement in Directing, Original Screenplay and Film Editing – with only one win for Patricia Arquette for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Although, in my opinion, the film did not receive the complete recognition it deserved, namely a Best Director Oscar for Linklater, Boyhood continues to be an extremely relatable film. It tells the story of a middle-class family coping with love and loss at all the stages of growing up. My hope is that this ambitious project will continue to resonate with audiences and cause future filmmakers to question what it truly means to make a realistic film. Boyhood is not only a classic coming of age story, but also a lesson in the endless possibilities in film as a storytelling medium.