Mason (Ellar Coltrane) is a 6 year old boy living in the 'burbs with his Mum Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). Life is a bit of a struggle for single mum Olivia, with Dad Mason Senior (Ethan Hawke) out of the picture most of the time after the two split up fairly acrimoniously (we guess). Occasionally Mason Senior comes to town, takes the kids out for a fun day and presents, then drops them back to Mum for the serious parenting. The kids hope that Mum and Dad will get back together, but that doesn't look like happening based on the argument being held in the front yard. After breaking up with her latest boyfriend, Olivia decides to move the kids to Texas to be near her mother. This is the first in a series of moves that the movie follows, mostly from Mason Junior's point of view, over a 12 year period as Mason grows into a young man and Olivia tries to do what she thinks is best for the family.
While the film is ostensibly about Mason and how he navigates growing up, it is also much more than that. It is also about family and looks at issues of both the parents. The most touching part of the story is probably Olivia's arc as the Mum who goes out with the wrong guys, moves the family from place to place and struggles to make ends meet. But all the decisions she makes are clearly motivated by love for her children and wanting to better herself and their lives. Mason Senior is a complex character too, as he moves from slacker to responsibility while still trying to be the cool guy. He gets many of the best scenes, whether it's having 'the talk' with Samantha, to helping Mason get over his first real romance.
What really makes this a most unique filmgoing experience is the fact that it was filmed over a period of 12 years to allow the actors to actually grow and age naturally. Yeah I know what you're thinking, 7 Up has already been there, done that. However, 7 Up was a documentary. Boyhood is a fictional movie written and directed by Richard Linklater (known for Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight, Dazed and Confused and several others) and filmed over several weeks each year, for 12 years, with the same actors playing their characters over that whole time. This has never been done before, and probably will not be done again. Certainly it won't be done to the same level of quality in my opinion, as you have to realise how hard it would be to get working actors to commit to filming a movie over that long a period, and also to build continuity and stay in character. It's an amazing achievement by all.
The concept makes this an absolute winner in my opinion. It's the closest thing to real life you will ever see at the movies without being a documentary. The director doesn't give us any obvious cuts to show when we have jumped forward a year in the life of the family; the only way to tell that time has passed is different haircuts/faces and different houses/partners/cars. The dialogue is really relatable and doesn't sound like movie talk, which makes me think it was at least partly improvised by the core group of actors who would have gotten to know each other pretty well over 12 years. Nothing overly dramatic or unrealistic happens - there is no cliché like the most awesome party ever, no massive fight between parent and child, no showing of the loss of virginity etc. This is not a criticism by any means. As I said earlier, it's just like peeking in at key moments of real people's lives. Made all the more real by the fact that as time passes, these actors look older, get different haircuts and different body shapes without any use of prosthetics or visual effects.
The overall effect is a warm and fuzzy feeling. While Mason's mumbling gets a little annoying towards the end, when we leave him at the age of 18 you get the impression that this nice, intelligent and talented kid is going to figure out what he wants to do with his life and get on and do it. You realise that nobody has all the answers or can make good choices all the time, but if there is love there, you can forgive and forget. Just a warning though, it is very long - 2 hours and 45 minutes - so allow plenty of time for this gentle, joyous, unique experience. Five stars!
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