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There’s no mistaking it: “Boyhood” is one of the great film achievements of 2014 and an unprecedented work of narrative cinema. Many may be familiar with the “Up” series of documentaries, wherein a group of friends has been filmed every seven years since the age of 7, but try thinking of an instance when such a growth process was captured in one movie — in scripted, fictional form.
“Boyhood” tells the story of a Texas kid, Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane), and follows his development from age 5 to age 18. The clincher is that Coltrane also developed through this period, playing the character through a shoot that lasted for 12 consecutive years. And it isn’t just Coltrane who stuck it out with ambitious writer-director Richard Linklater. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette aged themselves playing Mason Jr.’s divorced parents, as did Linklater’s daughter, Lorelei, who plays the lead’s older sister, Samantha.
Linklater has long been obsessed with both time and youth, bringing to his work the longings we all have to extend the former and relive the latter. He’s turned mundanity into riveting dramatic comedy with “Dazed and Confused” and revisited lovers three times through their bittersweet romance in “Before Sunrise” and its sequels. An epic merger of the filmmaker’s heartfelt fascinations, “Boyhood” will go down as Linklater’s magnum opus, albeit an indulgent one.
At 162 minutes, “Boyhood” is no short sit; however, it isn’t the length that’s most likely to make a viewer squirm. At times, it’s unsettling to think the film wasn’t merely called “Childhood,” since Samantha’s story is largely as prominent as Mason Jr.’s, and a closing scene about preserving moments feels a bit too trite for comfort. But then again, perhaps Linklater isn’t quite equipped to tap into a girl’s growth so fully, and perhaps the closing moment is, aptly, the musings of a teenager who still finds wonder and possibility in what may seem trite to others. And that’s OK. That’s life.
Boyhood
R
4 reels out of 4
Opens tomorrow at area theaters
Recommended Rental
Under the Skin
R
Available Now
A decade after his controversial cult drama “Birth,” master filmmaker Jonathan Glazer returns with “Under the Skin,” a brilliant alien saga that ultimately assesses what it means to be human. As an otherworldly creature who takes the form of a fatal temptress, Scarlett Johansson is an eerie embodiment of identity taking shape — for better and for worse.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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