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Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater
"You don't want the bumpers, life doesn't give you bumpers."
"Because I don't have all the answers..."
Ecclesiastes 1:4-9
If you are reading this you know the mechanics behind this movie. One kid filmed once a year for twelve years. Simple but ambitious. I actually think ambitious is the wrong word, although pretty appropriate. I think a better word is courageous. Most of us can't keep still with what we want to do in our lives for a year, let alone twelve. To take on this endeavor Linklater had to have a singular vision for what this film would be twelve years ahead of time. Any waffling in the least and it would have showed up in a major way in the final product. He did not waver. The finished film is seamless. So seamless that I would not be surprised if people who do not know the story behind the filming of Boyhood did not even realize the same child actor was used throughout. The best example of how seamless this movie really is lies in the editing in my opinion. Li.nklater chooses to use no title cards or fade outs to let us know time is passing. We simply know time has passed because the characters are older. Haircuts, music, living situations, and even video game systems are all the indicators we get of time moving forward and what year we may be in. The film is put together flawlessly. Of course the novelty of Linklater's vision is not enough to sustain us for nearly three hours. We are movie goers, and as such we want to be entertained, inspired, and moved emotionally. Boyhood delivers on these levels as well, even if it is not how we expect.
Boyhood has to be the most realistic movie I have ever watched. If you have grown up in this kind of middle class American culture there is no way you are not going to recognize a character type represented. The dialogue is fluid but a bit clunky at times. Clunky in a good way. When a character meets a new person or interacts with someone they have not in a long time they don't always know what to say. Other times we enter conversations in mid-stream. The characters are already very comfortable and the dialogue feels that way. Whether this is script genius or a lot of improvisation doesn't matter, Linklater deserves credit. It is obvious he set out to make the tone of this movie very realistic and he succeeded. The humor in the film is another great example of the realism. At no point is this film meant to be knee slapping funny. We are meant to find humor in the small moments in these characters lives, and the audience I watched this with did. A lot of the the humor comes from the recognition of just how realistic this movie is. A silly song you liked, a stupid friend, or an over bearing boss. All of these are great examples of Linklater using real life circumstances to get the audience on board with these characters and their situations.
The small moments is what Boyhood ends up being all about. There are numerous times in this film where Linklater uses misdirection in the opposite way that most movies do. He sets us up to think this is where the big turning point in the boy's life is going to be. Someone is going to die or be physically beaten. There is going to be an argument between two characters that they will not be able to come back from. I know I was not alone in seeing these moments coming because there were audible gasps from my theater at these points. The moments do not happen though. It is Linklater once again letting us know that is not the story he is telling. Not that these kind of situations could not happen in real life. I think he simply wants to keep us grounded in the reality that most of us live in. Another way Linklater keeps us in the small moments is to not over emphasize the big moments. These moments exist of course. We see birthdays, moving to other towns, friends lost, and even parental reunions. They are simply not given the same weight as in other films. They simply propel our characters forward into the next small moments of their lives. It is what keeps Boyhood so grounded in reality.
The last thing I want to talk about concerning Boyhood is perspective. My southern conservative neck hairs stood up a bit at a couple points in this movie. I started to even become a little annoyed at one point when a couple of the characters are putting up Obama signs in yards before the election. They come upon a house and ask the man if they could put a sign up. The disdain in his face, and the vile he spits at the kid was reprehensible. Not that this type of person doesn't exist, they do, but it was such a stark contrast to the liberal woman we see moments after who is unbelievably sugary sweet and inviting. I am glad that I didn't stay in this moment long and I am glad this moment exists. It made me realize my ignorance was starting to creep in. I was almost missing the entire point of the film. Every adult we are seeing is completely from our protagonists perspective. Of course both the conservative and liberal are caricatures. This is how they will be talked about and remembered by a young man going door to door and experiencing divisive politics for the first time. That is why his mom is either shown sitting in a pile of papers with her reading glasses on or with a man in a social situation. This is why his dad swoops in every other weekend like a knight in shining armor waxing philosophical and bearing gifts. When he gets a new family, he is losing his “cool” and driving a minivan. His grandmother is the nicest person in every room to everyone except his father. His boss is geeky and over bearing. Every single person is seen as they would be remembered by a boy growing up. It clicked suddenly and seemed like it should have been so obvious to me sooner. Another example of Linklater writing this movie perfectly.
So I have been gushing for a few paragraphs now and if you are still with me you are probably wondering, “why no perfect score?'”. The answer is this movie is so grounded in reality that it lacks the emotional punch in the gut that I was hoping for. It is a movie I will talk about. It will more than likely be in my top five this year. I admire it endlessly. I will probably not be returning to it very often however.
3 Coming Of Age Films I Love:
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater
"You don't want the bumpers, life doesn't give you bumpers."
"Because I don't have all the answers..."
Ecclesiastes 1:4-9
If you are reading this you know the mechanics behind this movie. One kid filmed once a year for twelve years. Simple but ambitious. I actually think ambitious is the wrong word, although pretty appropriate. I think a better word is courageous. Most of us can't keep still with what we want to do in our lives for a year, let alone twelve. To take on this endeavor Linklater had to have a singular vision for what this film would be twelve years ahead of time. Any waffling in the least and it would have showed up in a major way in the final product. He did not waver. The finished film is seamless. So seamless that I would not be surprised if people who do not know the story behind the filming of Boyhood did not even realize the same child actor was used throughout. The best example of how seamless this movie really is lies in the editing in my opinion. Li.nklater chooses to use no title cards or fade outs to let us know time is passing. We simply know time has passed because the characters are older. Haircuts, music, living situations, and even video game systems are all the indicators we get of time moving forward and what year we may be in. The film is put together flawlessly. Of course the novelty of Linklater's vision is not enough to sustain us for nearly three hours. We are movie goers, and as such we want to be entertained, inspired, and moved emotionally. Boyhood delivers on these levels as well, even if it is not how we expect.
Boyhood has to be the most realistic movie I have ever watched. If you have grown up in this kind of middle class American culture there is no way you are not going to recognize a character type represented. The dialogue is fluid but a bit clunky at times. Clunky in a good way. When a character meets a new person or interacts with someone they have not in a long time they don't always know what to say. Other times we enter conversations in mid-stream. The characters are already very comfortable and the dialogue feels that way. Whether this is script genius or a lot of improvisation doesn't matter, Linklater deserves credit. It is obvious he set out to make the tone of this movie very realistic and he succeeded. The humor in the film is another great example of the realism. At no point is this film meant to be knee slapping funny. We are meant to find humor in the small moments in these characters lives, and the audience I watched this with did. A lot of the the humor comes from the recognition of just how realistic this movie is. A silly song you liked, a stupid friend, or an over bearing boss. All of these are great examples of Linklater using real life circumstances to get the audience on board with these characters and their situations.
The small moments is what Boyhood ends up being all about. There are numerous times in this film where Linklater uses misdirection in the opposite way that most movies do. He sets us up to think this is where the big turning point in the boy's life is going to be. Someone is going to die or be physically beaten. There is going to be an argument between two characters that they will not be able to come back from. I know I was not alone in seeing these moments coming because there were audible gasps from my theater at these points. The moments do not happen though. It is Linklater once again letting us know that is not the story he is telling. Not that these kind of situations could not happen in real life. I think he simply wants to keep us grounded in the reality that most of us live in. Another way Linklater keeps us in the small moments is to not over emphasize the big moments. These moments exist of course. We see birthdays, moving to other towns, friends lost, and even parental reunions. They are simply not given the same weight as in other films. They simply propel our characters forward into the next small moments of their lives. It is what keeps Boyhood so grounded in reality.
The last thing I want to talk about concerning Boyhood is perspective. My southern conservative neck hairs stood up a bit at a couple points in this movie. I started to even become a little annoyed at one point when a couple of the characters are putting up Obama signs in yards before the election. They come upon a house and ask the man if they could put a sign up. The disdain in his face, and the vile he spits at the kid was reprehensible. Not that this type of person doesn't exist, they do, but it was such a stark contrast to the liberal woman we see moments after who is unbelievably sugary sweet and inviting. I am glad that I didn't stay in this moment long and I am glad this moment exists. It made me realize my ignorance was starting to creep in. I was almost missing the entire point of the film. Every adult we are seeing is completely from our protagonists perspective. Of course both the conservative and liberal are caricatures. This is how they will be talked about and remembered by a young man going door to door and experiencing divisive politics for the first time. That is why his mom is either shown sitting in a pile of papers with her reading glasses on or with a man in a social situation. This is why his dad swoops in every other weekend like a knight in shining armor waxing philosophical and bearing gifts. When he gets a new family, he is losing his “cool” and driving a minivan. His grandmother is the nicest person in every room to everyone except his father. His boss is geeky and over bearing. Every single person is seen as they would be remembered by a boy growing up. It clicked suddenly and seemed like it should have been so obvious to me sooner. Another example of Linklater writing this movie perfectly.
So I have been gushing for a few paragraphs now and if you are still with me you are probably wondering, “why no perfect score?'”. The answer is this movie is so grounded in reality that it lacks the emotional punch in the gut that I was hoping for. It is a movie I will talk about. It will more than likely be in my top five this year. I admire it endlessly. I will probably not be returning to it very often however.
3 Coming Of Age Films I Love: