“Boyhood,” the new film from Richard Linklater, is being hailed both as a masterpiece and an American classic. That kind of praise always makes me a bit nervous. It is deserved here. This nearly perfect coming-of-age movie rocked me for sure. It is one of the most ambitious, touching and extraordinary movies I have ever seen.
The movie took more than a decade to film, the actors – Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater – grow up together until Coltrane – Mason in the movie – goes off to college. I suppose the real message of the movie is that growing up is difficult, and often just stinks. The other message is that most of us survive it.
It is a sad commentary on American life that the movie can only be seen in a handful of independent theaters, the big chains don’t show two hour and 45 minute movies without aliens or zombies or superheroes.
In “Boyhood,” nothing much happens excepts a sensitive and troubled young man grows up, he and his family live through divorces, moves, abusive men, conflicts and the daily struggles of life together. The movie is funny and beautiful and very deeply felt, anyone who has ever grown up – that would be all of us – will resonate deeply with Mason’s march towards life. Arquette is wonderful at his mother, a tiger who always protects her young even as she leads them through one painful struggle after another.
Hawke is especially brilliant as Mason’s father, a restless and immature man who learns how to grow up, be a real man and a loving father before our eyes. He wins back his son’s strained trust and shows us what having a loving father really means.
It was an especially brilliant stroke to follow all of these actors for nearly 12 years, we see all of them grow up and age before our eyes. It is rare to see a movie so simple yet powerful. I don’t think masterpiece is too strong a word. Linklater is a brave filmmaker – he foregoes all of the flash and boom of modern film marketing to create a movie that draws us deeply to its compassionate, human and very empathetic characters.
I don’t believe I know a single human being who did not find growing up difficult, often painful and confusing. For much of the movie, the artistic Mason is hectored and lectured by adults telling him to grow up, be mature and do his homework on time. This is the message of America right now – do what they tell you so that you can make enough money to be able to afford what they tell you you need. Any other path is reckless and irresponsible. Keep your day job.
Like most kids growing up, Mason doesn’t care much for adults and doesn’t listen to them. He lives in his own world, on his hown path. Over time, he grows closer to his father, who ran away from the family and moved to Alaska when Mason was very young, but who has returned to try to be closer to his kids and figure out how to live them. The rebuilding of this father-and-son relationship is an astonishingly beautiful and satisfying element of the movie.
If there was any flaw in this wonderful movie for me, it is a common one. Hollywood – book publishing too – can no longer imagine a human being over the age of 40 who is not resigned, beaten by the system of life, or defeated by it. If the movie industry finds growing up difficult, they find growing older a horror without redemption.
I saw one review that called “Boyhood” one of the most extraordinary films in decades – I think it is true. It is also restrained and disciplined and unassuming. Any mother, father or child will be profoundly touched by it. I recommend it very highly.