Reviews by:
@silverscreencritiques
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The film follows a boy named Mason growing up from a young boy to a college freshman. It follows his and his family's everyday life and what they go through. It's a coming-of-age story in a very literal sense.
If you've been following this page for a bit, you know that I think Richard Linklater is one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. I've reviewed one of his films already and mentioned him a few other times on other posts. I think Boyhood is his best film so far and one of the best films from the last decade. If you've been following me or know anything about me, you'd also know that these types of films are some of my favorite films.
Throughout the film, big things happen, marriages, divorces, moving away, and graduation, but they all happen off-screen. We only see the result and what follows each of those milestones. We see a man moving in or them moving out to a new place and how that goes. We see what leads to a divorce but the divorce proceeding. We only see the graduation party, not the actual graduation. If the film had focused on marriages or divorces, it would have become a film about love or the lack thereof, if it had focused on graduating, then it would have only been about school. It says that life is growing up with family, going camping, bowling, and/or spending time with friends.
By doing it this way, it's suggesting that life is all about the in-between moments. There's a key point of dialogue spoken by the mother near the end of the film. She is overwhelmed that her youngest child is going to college. She says she was expecting more, mentions all the milestones in her life, and says the next one is her funeral. It's a very sad and heartbreaking scene. It shows us that we can be so focused on achieving our goals that we can miss out on the moment in front of us. If we're too busy worrying about tomorrow, we can miss out on today. It's good to have goals of course, but if we expect them to fulfill all of our needs, they oftentimes don't. Another thing that Boyhood does that I appreciate, is that growing up isn't so bad.
I feel that the media, social media, and our culture have made being an adult and growing up a scary thing. They make it seem like being a child is as good as it's ever going to get, and that being an adult sucks. Boyhood has a different view on that.
Throughout the film, Mason is often scolded for doing something he enjoys doing. He gets told what to do, has to follow the rules, and gets scolded by the adults in his life. He doesn't fully understand the choices, rules, and decisions made by them. To him, it just seems like they just want to be in control, beacause they're the adult.
The end of the film is satisfying because he finally gets to be out on his own. To become who he wants to become and do what he wants to do without anyone stopping him or telling him otherwise. He's free.
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