Boyhood

NOTE: Took me long enough but now I have a new review.

Director Richard Linklater could have made his latest film, Boyhood, in one year. Twelve years in the fictional life of one Texas family would have needed multiple actors in the same role. Instead, Linklater started filming in 2002 to document the growth of both actors and characters.

Let's see how it is.

Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane) begins the film at six-years old. His mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette), moves him and sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter) to Houston so she can attend the University of Houston. On the weekends, Mason and Samantha go on trips with their biological father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). Mason and Samantha grow up, make friends, lose friends, decide their future, go to college and so forth. Meanwhile, Olivia struggles to support the kids and get through one failed re-marriage after another.

And that's the basic gist of the movie.

It's a story which spans 165 minutes. A lot of it is about character development. Some of it is good, some of it is not. Even minor characters we wouldn't expect to see again return. Seeing the actors age with their characters makes it intriguing.

Both the young and adult actors make a nice ensemble. You won't think of them as actors at all but as characters. Coltrane and Linklater are capable leads whose life lessons keep the viewer invested. Amongst the adults, there's Ethan Hawke as Mason Sr. He's laid-back, carefree and one of the most stable adults in the picture. He makes a good father for the kids.

Its run-time may seem intimidating for a casual viewer at first. But if you can get through it, you'll have a fine cinematic experience. That it was done at all this way is what you'll remember the most about it.