Boyhood

July 23, 2014

Destination: AMC Promenade 16 – Woodland Hills

Cost: $11.50 plus gas

The praise heaped on director Richard Linklater for his film Boyhood has been abundant. The LA Times critic wrote, “I cannot remember when a film has moved me more or captured so well all the colors and shadings of the personal, yet universal process of becoming.” In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gushes “Boyhood makes us feel euphoric about movies, about their mystery, their power, their ability to move us to laughter and tears. It's an unassuming masterpiece.”

The premise for this film is unique and compelling. It follows the life of a boy through twelve years until his 18^th birthday – but it is filmed in real time using the same actors over those years. We see a family evolve before our eyes, each actor going deeper into his role as time progresses. This approach results in a heightened reality that tricks you into thinking you are watching a real family, not performers who have memorized dialogue.

The realism here is magnified by the masterful performance of Ellar Coltrane as the boy, Mason, Jr.  This is the best “non-acting” I’ve seen in a long time.  With expressive eyes and keen nonchalance, he grows up in front of us – always quietly interesting and worthy of our attention. What a leap of faith director Linklater took, casting this young boy with the hope he would grow into an actor capable of carrying a film. Even though the movie runs nearly three hours, I would have gladly followed Mason through college.

Since I'm on a budget, I took advantage of the discount AMC offers for screenings before 3:55 p.m. As usual, the theatre was too cold and the volume too high.