Boyhood

A movie that is unique and exceptional only because of the way it was shot. Everything shown in its more than 160-minute runtime is stale (and not only because we experienced it ourselves in adolescence), likewise with some parts of the story, which, without a strong message, clumsily passes by the viewer without leaving a single even slightly significant emotional trace. My hat is off to Linklater for taking on something like this in the first place, but Boyhood lacks so many essentials, starting with more interesting character development and ending with at least one surprising "life" twist, that I'm tempted to talk about a waste of potential and creative time. My thoughts seemed to be summed up at the end by a weeping Patricia Arquette with the words: I was expecting something more... 70% (10/11/2014)

To write and shoot a three-hour film about the elusive meaning of life is something that only a creator who has already created numerous perfect conversations about it can afford. And Richard Linklater proves that in his portrayal, it is not just adulthood, relationships, and definitive maturity that are incredible, but also a hundred and one feelings of the earliest self-awareness. Sometimes on a more intense string, sometimes on a less intense one, but always from a story that we have experienced, our neighbor on the bench or a friend who flew through our lives seemingly irreversibly influencing it and was never seen again. And it is precisely here, with positive and negative paternal figures, with an omnipresent mother who never says "I love you" yet still shows her feelings countless times, that a boy can grow into something more. Maybe even a man. Maybe just an ordinary dilettante. And maybe someone who wants to reach for a little bit of their own happiness while flying through life. (07/19/2014)

Filming something for 12 years and deciding 12 years ago that the movie would take 12 years to make – that takes some goddamn balls. And Richard Linklater evidently has those. Clean-shaven and ready for us to evaluate his latest project. And I can’t help it but give it a full, five-star review. I mean this is something else. The director doesn’t really show me how the boy grows, or rather shows it in a very natural manner and in the end I didn’t really mind at all. I totally grew to like the boy over the two hours and a half. He really lived his life with everything that takes. With happiness as well as with falls. On top of that, his divorced parents Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke put in incredibly amazing performances. Obviously, I shouldn’t forget about Mason either, who is portrayed by Ellar Colltrane. What’s important is that over those two and a half hours, the boy grew before my very eyes. From a boy who was afraid to say anything, into a boy who has his own opinions and who’s not afraid to develop them further. The final scene on the beach was really strong. Life is slipping through our fingers and we must not let those chances that make life worth living get away. (10/18/2014)

I've seen a documentary filmed in a similar way, so the 12 years of filming wasn't particularly overwhelming for me, it's just that the documentary left a much bigger mark on me than this. I kind of watched it, these strangers' lives, and felt nothing at all, no closeness, no empathy, nothing. It's not bad, but it's just a bit too long of a blank. Sure, a beautiful example of the "from life" genre, but I've seen better ones like this. That's why it's nothing special or surprising to me, nothing that would knock me on my ass and nominate it for an Oscar. (02/24/2015)

A film that defines growing up in the same way like, for instance, Eyes Wide Shut defines human sexuality. All the looks, the spoken and unspoken emotions, the relationships, the break-ups, the moves, the tears – this is the daily routine of most people in the world, and it's good that Linklater handled Boyhood the way he did. That is, 12 years in 150 minutes and with the same actors, this gives the whole a completely different charge that leaves a mark far beyond cinema. (06/11/2021)