Filmed as a long-term project over a dozen years, Boyhood follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age six to eighteen, gradually moving forward in time through life's myriad changes - schools, homes, step-parents, relationships and realizations. Linklater deftly keeps a naturalistic pace and tone, never imposing the artifice of contrivance or overt plot, which somehow draws us in and invests us in the characters all the more. There are no simplistic or obvious transitions - you're never abruptly aware of the passage of time, rather finding yourself asking, "Did we just move ahead?"
It's impossible to watch Boyhood without reflecting on your own past and evolution from first grade to the cusp of adulthood. There's a universal experience of moving through the canyons of childhood that is clearly a big part of the film's appeal, with vignettes and quiet moments that are always realistic and easy to relate to.
Boyhood feels very personal. Growing up amid the frayed connections of divorced parents Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, the film is as much about life's impact on adults as it is on children. Hawke has never been better, and Coltrane is a revelation. The young man we see poised on the verge of adulthood has the charisma and heart to become a major star.
While we have a timelapse view of the characters, we also have one of the last dozen years of America, and what it's like to move from Dragon Ball Z to Obama. From an arrowhead collection to aspirations of a career.
Some critics have dismissed Boyhood's unique long-term storytelling and construction as mere stunt or gimmick. To them I ask, did you have childhood? Have you lost touch with how it felt to be caught between the pull of family and your own desires? If so, Boyhood could very well help you remember. A visionary achievement full of humanity, as rich and unpredictable as life itself.
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