Boyhood Review

[Westside Steve]

Boyhood

IFC

R 161 min

 

 

There is a reason I don't read other critics reviews before I've seen and evaluated a motion picture.

First of all I don't want my opinion colored by the opinion of someone I may or may not respect. Moreover I don't want to know what's coming. That's why I caution all of you to see movies before you read my opinion and synopsis. In the case it's James Linklaters BOYHOOD

I had no idea of the plot besides I guessed that it was a generic coming of age autobiography. I did, however, notice that in each and every movie website, Moviefone, IMDB, etc. that the star level was consistently between four and a half and five. That means the film is getting some universal critical love.

To be honest I wish I'd never even seen that much because I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop during the entire first hour. I kept waiting for the film to take that big leap from mediocrity to something special.

I felt my excitement wane slowly and steadily with the passage of time until I faced the fact that this was all there was going to be.

So is it just me? Am I wrong and this is a great film? I think I gave it a chance waiting patiently for something to catch fire and blaze away until the climax. It just never did. As I knew this is a film that chronicles the life of one boy (Linklaters I assume) from approximately six years old until 18 and off to college.

That's all fine and good until we realize that most human beings live reasonably normal and even mundane lives.

Probably the most impressive aspect of this film is in the technical end and unfortunately not in the story. Linklater began filming this about a dozen years ago and stayed with the same cast shot in chronological chunks.

We see Mason Jr (Eller Coltrane) grow from a little kid into a college man in a two hour and 45 minute production. We also see his mom and biological Mason senior, (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke) age over that period of years. Arquette has apparently gained and lost weight at various times during the filming which does add to the realism. Of course cute child actors rarely grow into impressive teenage actors. Case in point Jerry Mathers as the Beaver and in a somewhat lesser way with Coltrane.

That's still a pretty impressive feat, movie wise, but hardly enough to add more than a little interest to the story. Here's an example. I loved Stanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON though not many people I know agree. However he set a technical landmark by shooting the film entirely with natural light. Still it didn't make Ryan O’Neill’s Irish accent any better.

 

I can also respect the idea that a life story might well be a real one and not one overly dramatized for the audience. But then life is not all that exciting for the most part and neither is this film. Every time I thought a catharsis was about to happen, as with the second husband's drinking, the movie lurches forward into the next gear like a car with a worn out clutch.

Sorry to say that this well-meaning work drags from just dull to excruciating over a period of nearly 3 hours.

The best I can give it is C.

C

WSS