I read this comment about the movie which said "It felt like reading a good book, which is the highest compliment I can give to a film." and I couldn't be more precise .
Obviously seeing the kids grow up in the movie was so unique and amazing. I understand why it got so many awards. However, it was slow and the plot was never very exciting.
Definitely one of the best movies in the last 10 years. I don't give 10/10 just because my math professor always told me: ''10/10 is impossible to achieve and that's why you should always try to get there'', so i got traumatized.
No, seriously, i just felt the acting a little too forced in certain scenes (which doesn't mean i consider it bad, not at all!).
Why are you still reading go watch it! It's one in 10'000 movies.
What a disappointment... "Boyhood" is just a good idea that didn't grew. Basically, the movie just show us how they aged. The main problem? Too much short shots in a film, rushing it... It doesn't allows us to understand the characters. Mediocre story, actors (except Ethan Hawke) and very poor dialogues. At least the first scenes, when Mason was 6 years old, were beautiful and nostalgic and I absolutely loved it.
This movie was just so BORING. The only point of the movie is that it was recorded with the same actors for 12 years, that's it, that's all.
Just a really well-made movie. I liked how they didn't add anything very dramatic or out of the ordinary. Many movies do that and it makes it look artificial. This one did a very good job with that so you feel like you're just witnessing reality. Intense emotions and familiar situations are pictured beautifully. I especially liked the scene where Mason Sr. had "the talk" with Samantha. It was so well-executed. Soundtracks are pretty good, too.
There are better movies about life and growing up but it's commendable how they created this one.
To me the movie had a lingering sense of dread that started with the alcoholic stepfather at the beginning of the movie. I never could shake it loose which tainted the story a bit for me... All in all the kid doesn't have a bad childhood... Or at least you don't see anything of it... It's a little bit too fragmented to know.... And that's the movie's biggest weakness.
I don't understand the hype of this movie. the only amazing part is that the film literally chose one actor and filmed his development or more like his transition to adulthood, but I don't get the plot. was there even a plot? It was so boring, and it dragged all the way to the end.
OVERRATED BORING SHIT.
The only interesting thing about this movie, is that you literally see the boy growing up on screen
I watched the first 45mins of this movie and its really boring. The movie is going nowhere.
..
Boyhood's a very interesting film and, despite not really having any central driving plotline, it flows so organically and realistically. You only get a glimpse of their lives every year but it manages to capture what's happening in a very understated manner and the acting, especially the children's, is so natural and authentic. It allows you to relive your childhood, with all its ups and downs, subtly transitioning from one moment to the next, one year to another, with only the actors' aging and the occasional temporal signposts to mark a particular time.
Everybody should definitely check this out.
One of the greatest well-made pictures of the 21th century no doubt. I sincerely haven't felt this connected to a film since pffft i don't know !! it was genuine, funny and profoundly heartfelt. what an experience . 10/10
A fascinating film that captures the nostalgia and bittersweet progression of childhood.
This movie is an experience that every person should have. This is a fucking masterpiece. It's amazing how the simplicity of this film becomes one of it's best characteristics. This movie is quite exactly what I would like to do if I decided to make a movie someday. Kinda bad someone got there first, but it's ok because I probably wouldn't do better than this. God, those little moments with the family, the thoughts of what's the point of life... This movie is so nostalgic and I'm still in the high-school-to-college phase, but still I can relate so much with this movie. I love when we can relate with the story and the things the principal character is going through. And the soundtrack... Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Foster the People... just hands down. I probably won't see a movie that will affect me so much as this one did.
I believe good cinema is experimenting with new techniques and doing things no one else has thought of yet, that's what makes it worth spending time on. Boyhood does exactly that. It's a project that innovated, in a time where innovation seems to be almost feared.
Fantastic movie. Best of the year so far. If you were born in the 90's it will feel nostalgic as hell. There are memories in the movie that are mine too. The songs, the video games, the cartoons, more so because I come from a broken home too. It may speak a lot more to some people than others. For me it speaks to the heart, and that I cherish in this movie. Yes it's almost 3 hours long but it doesn't feel that long at all, it goes pretty fast actually.
It is a fantastic work and I hope that will be considered by the Academy. I confess I've never seen the Before trilogy, but Richard Linklater deserves a nomination for best direction for this film.
It doesn't reach the perfect score (only Godfather and Shawshank did it) for me but it is very close to it. 9/10. GREAT MOVIE, GO SEE IT!
It is difficult to separate Boyhood's development as a film from the actual story presented and review it on its own merits. Indeed, perhaps this is a futile exercise as watching the actors age before your eyes, especially the children, is an important part of the experience. Linklater has achieved something truly remarkable here - a collection of largely unexceptional moments that could have come from any boy's childhood and teenage years doesn't exactly sound riveting, but these are moments that anyone can remember or relate to as an adult. With no central plotline driving the film forward, what makes it so powerful is how real the characters feel and how fleeting the moments depicted feel as Linklater has captured the feeling of time passing far too quickly with the characters aging from scene to scene with little fanfare. Ellar Coltrane is a revelation - so much of his performance initially comes from his body language as a quiet, insular and uncertain boy dominated by his elder sibling, yet equally he is a recognisably normal boy. It is this normality that makes him so endearing and watchable, even through the difficult teenage years, where he perfectly captures the unspoken hopes and fears for the future and the desire and difficulties of finding a place in the world as adulthood comes rushing towards him. Importantly, however, while the film is shot largely from the boy's point of view, the title of the film is misleading as this is as much about the other members of the family and their development as well, with some equally great work from Arquette especially. It seems harsh to bring up two scenes that don't work as well - an unnecessary epilogue of college life and an encounter with a previous character in a restaurant - but these scenes stand out as unnecessary emphasis on points already made. However, it does little to spoil what is a standout film of the the year already. Nostalgic, funny, wistful, hopeful, uplifting, touching - this is a film that stays with you long after viewing it.
man i totally loved this movie. I'm now kinda feeling good about my life. definitely worth a watch. really thought provoking movie.
No notes. As late as I tend to get around to watching his stuff, it confirmed my opinion that Richard Linklater is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. And one of the very few who can get me to watch an almost three-hour film these days, not letting me take my eyes off for even one second, and still being bummed when they're over. If you prefer "real" stories to fantasy, things that relate to the world you live in and have the potential to change your perspective on life, they don't come better than this.
Reminded me Jeanne Dielman. I get the point, understand that what makes it boring is also what makes it special and accept that it serves the plot and the message perfectly. BUT.. it still doesn't change the fact that it is boring.
I'd been putting off watching this film for years. I'm glad that I finally took the time to watch it. It's a really interesting film. It's great in the sense that it's an incredibly achievement in filmmaking. However, I can't help but imagine that if this were a traditionally filmed movie, where various actors played the same characters at different stages of their lives, it wouldn't be so well thought of. There was really nothing traditional about this film in the sense that it didn't really have a beginning, middle, and end the way that almost all films have. This was simply a story about life.
As I watched this, one thing that occurred to me was why this film was named what it was. The first 50-60 percent of this film didn't really focus on Mason. It was more a focus on the entire family structure. It wasn't until the latter half of the film that he became the main focus of the storyline. I felt that the film fell off a bit at that point, as I would have liked to have seen the focus remain on the family, rather than zeroing in on Mason. It wasn't a major issue; it was more of my particular preference for the direction of this tale.
This is a movie I always see it respectable lists, but never got around to watching. I didn’t realize it was a near three hour film or that it was filmed over about a decade. This is an incredible artistic image that truly embraces the coming of age story unlike others are capable of imitating. I also didn’t realize this shared a director with School of Rock & Dazed and Confused, both of which are also some of the greatest coming of age stories in film. Richard Linklater clearly has a magic touch with these types of stories and this one is worth checking out.
Rating: 4.5/5 - 9/10 - Highly Recommend
“I just…thought there would be more.”
Patricia Arquette summed up my thoughts at the conclusion of Richard Linklater’s epic experiment, Boyhood. The central conceit of the film, shooting over a 12-year period and charting the adolescence of its main character immediately brings to mind Michael Apted’s monumental “Up“ series. There, Apted made a documentary about the lives of a dozen children in England in 1963, and has subsequently made a film about the same group of people every 7 years since. This longitudinal approach to filmmaking must have been an inspiration to Linklater, but where Apted has managed to invest the audience deeply in the lives of his subjects, Linklater’s film felt to me like a triumph of form over substance.
Consider this question: would Boyhood have been an interesting film if he had simply cast several different actors in the same role at different ages? Without the central gimmick of watching that particular actor (his sister’s development seems like an afterthought to Linklater, so I won’t mention it further here) age over time, we would be left with a simply dull film. Bereft of his trademark semi-stoned conversational style, his characters don’t really have anything to say–they simply float along and live their lives. The film self-consciously marks the passage of time in a series of obvious cultural references: Harry Potter! iPod minis! Obama ’08! As Arquette notes in the same monologue, the movie charts a series of these moments–snippets of lives over 12 years that I wanted to mean something. I wanted to feel some kind of emotional connection to the characters, and I wanted to see some emotional connection between the characters. But the performances felt wooden (especially by the supporting cast), the relationships didn’t feel authentic, and the screenplay just never felt like it built to anything. Linklater knows how to do this, as evidenced by the absolutely brilliant Before series, but this whole movie felt like a squandered opportunity.
The film should certainly be lauded as a formal achievement. It’s ambitious and audacious as hell, to be sure. But I don’t think an exercise in formalism needs to feel quite so pointless. The movie I kept thinking of while watching Boyhood was Dziga Vertov’s Man With A Movie Camera. Eschewing any pretense of conventional narrative or characters, his avant-garde use of editing works to produce quite a powerful emotional effect. Here you have a movie that deliberately focuses on form over substance, but coheres into a shocking, even revelatory use of the medium. Boyhood, on the other hand, doesn’t cohere; it fizzles. As Vertov demonstrated, an examination of the quotidian can be fascinating. But in Boyhood, what could have been a pioneering achievement is instead undone by a lack of focus and, perhaps a first for Linklater, a lack of anything meaningful to say.
Good idea, but I didn't like the movie.
I think it was boring.
This is definitely a movie that’s worth watching. Although the main character is a young boy and his childhood, the movie really follows the entire family as the years go by and all the separate paths that everyone is on. It also highland how just because someone might not have everything all together in the present, circumstances can really change someone and grow them into somebody else who you never would of thought that person could become.
omg this movie is literally about me...
I know the name of the movie is "Boyhood" but I wish there was a little more story.
The house changes happen a little abruptly.
Some decisions in the script seem a little forced.
However I liked it, it was worth seeing.
Below is my rating by category.
2.4 points -> Cinematography (0-3)
1.5 points -> Acting and Characters (0-2)
2.4 points -> Plot (0-3)
0.7 points -> Music & Audio (0-1)
0.7 -> enjoyed the movie. (0-1)
Aka. 7.7 points
A clever idea. Overly long. You could tell the script and plot were being written as they went as it meandered slowly to a conclusion.
Kudos for the long haul of 12 years to make it.
6.5/10
I really really love it
2 / 2 directing & technical aspect
1 / 1 story
1 / 1 act I-ish
1 / 1 act II-ish
1 / 1 act III-ish
1 / 1 acting
1 / 1 writing
.5 / 1 originality
.5 / 1 lasting ability to make you think
0 / 1 misc
9 / 10
This movie is a journey.It's so special and respectfull how they made it in two years and this fact made this movie unique.You can't be bored from first till last minute time flied in this one.7.5/10
I think that this film could be better done but at the same time I understand the problems that could happen in the making. But in this movie you can see the same actors advancing in time, and how Mason and the kids grow up, and that it's so so beatiful in a movie.
I love that I can watch ten years of life in like two hours in a fluid way very well done. And I know it's not a critical comment but if you're born in the 90's you'll find it so magic and special because it brings lots of memories of my childhood to my mind.
So it's a great movie and at least for me it's so so special and really risky commercially. So I must say it's one of my favourites and a really remarkable movie in the history.
This film is set over 12 years and was filmed over that period so we the audience get to see the actors age and change in real time over this period. Boyhood is directed and written by Linklater and follows a more realistic approach to viewing the typical American family life.
No one is wealthy beyond belief and lives in giant six bedroom houses, we are spared generally from actorly histrionics with much shouting and arm waving and although live throws up some unpleasant situations and conundrums the film follows the general rule that most of us have nothing happen to us that is too dramatic or exciting.
For the generation of cinema goers who watch films with explosions, car-chases, helicopter crashes and evil-genius-psychopath serial killers this is going to severely disappoint. My advice is watch the movie, give it a chance, it is a small cinematic window into the lives of ordinary folk and is all the better for it.
There are frustrations for some – just as in life things are not resolved and people come in and out of Mason and his families lives and just like them you never get to see what happens to them or how they end up. Like real life. Some people are going to hate this but I believe that every now and then it does not do any harm to remind people about how lives are lived instead of building up narratives that cannot be lived up to. No harm to tell us that many of us live this way and there is nothing wrong with that.
With Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as the parents you are on to a safe bet and it must have been pleasing for them to see that they could act in consistent manner over a 12-year period so that as their characters grew older you did not suddenly get jarred out the ‘moments. Likewise, it should be said that Ellar Coltrane as Mason and the director’s daughter Lorelei Linklater more than held their own over the same period. There seemed to me to be sticky patch as the children started to head toward teenage years, although that could easily be understandable, but it smoothed out quickly as both actors kept their naturalistic air throughout the running time. Presumably director Linklater must take credit for a great deal of this. Coltrane is most impressive as the shiftless, shuffling, aimless teenage that we have all been and seen. Then again, he was one at the time!
It seems redundant to say but the due to the structure of the story and the topic the film’s story is very simple and get small windows into Mason’s life. Nothing to stressful or dangerous as he and his mother and sister navigate some choppy waters trying to find the calmer shores of life. Into the mix was see Ethan Hawke as the father who stays in the children’s lives and although he is not the most reliable character he does stay a rock of sorts for the children as their mother’s poor choices of partner continually haunts her.
Having watched Boyhood and enjoyed I am fully aware that as a piece of cinematic art this will divide the viewing audience in a spectacular manner. The lack of real drama, comedy or life changing events will be a huge minus for many but equally this ‘less Hollywood, look-at-me, the audience must have something to play-off’ style for many others will be a bonus.
Well made, well-acted but probably a divisive film at heart. That is not a bad thing.
this movie really beaten my expectation,the whole 165mns i sat here didn't feel like i'm watching a movie at all felt more like a reality one,i mean this guy directed for 12 years and gave us only 165 minutes just minutes and it was pretty amazing,i'm stocked to actually have the pleasure of seeing this honest liberation piece-of-art i's a freaking masterpiece and the fact it have Ethan Hawke in it just better. i really liked the story line and the cast the chemistry and acts was in the moment. "Moment Seize Us" indeed!
in making Boyhood another 7 movies was direct by Linklater.what a way to complete the story.
"Boyhood" is the most powerful and unique coming-of-age film ever made and it will be proclaimed as a classic for the years to come.
Best movie of 2014...
Melhor filme de 2014...
This is a film that I would consider among those regarded as a true form of art!
This is a great movie, there's nothing else i can add, but it's sad that everyone connects and finds itself inside the character, i mean the movie is aware of it at some point "there is like 8 tipes of people in the world" and this is one of them, we should form our own country made of art and mushrooms. sorry for the broken english.
Buena película, aunque para mi no es la favorita de este año. Me parece que hay mejores historias.
Honestly 3 hours of starting a story and not finishing it...so many questions still left what happened at that age...no red line yeah a boy growing up...and this is in run for best movie? waste of 12 years to be honest could've made a lot more out of it...give some closure at times not leaving us hanging then the next scene to see everything has changed....luckily it was ok and didn't stink as much as I thought it would but still not the best movie in my opinion
I felt like 3 hours a slave, goin' thru' the transformation of Mason from a lil' boy to a young man. God! I'm glad I'm just its viewer than the actors who had to come in every year to finish some of the scenes.. hope the producers treated them well or else it's like doin' this 12 Years A Slave!
I watched some but good parts
La verdad es que no vi lo sorprendente de esta película... No digo que sea mala pero no es la genialidad que muchos decían que era.
A Masterpiece, It is really amazing how they grew up during the 12 years of shooting the movie!! Best Drama movie ever..
Well done
I loved it so much, the sountrack! Was amazing
i just got a train to Feelippines seeing this movie, masterpiece indeed
La historia es redundante o no la más especial pero la película simula tu propia vida y se te pasa volando. Es tan orgánica, natural y todo fluye tan simple y perfectamente que es inevitable no dejarse llevar desde el primer minuto. No es una montaña rusa de emociones como esperaba ni cae en manipularte emocionalmente. Si no que conecta contigo todo el tiempo y de vez en cuando realmente te llega y no puedes hacer más nada que sonreír.
Difícil conseguir una experiencia así en una película. Me encanta que Richard Linklater haya experimentado de esta forma con el cine porque este guión fue precioso, las actuaciones son excelentes y se mantienen a todo lo largo y la dirección no dejó nada por fuera.
In my opinion this film is a Masterpiece!
THE FACT IS IT: This movie is like experiment, they was filming it for over 12 years on single boy from 6 years old till his 18. Probably one of longest movie making in history :D
Manage your expectations going into this film. I don't know anything more about lead character than I did before I watched this film. The snippets we were shown from the key moments of Mason's life as he grew from a boy to a young adult felt contrived and his character was emotionally bankrupt. Yes, his parents split up and yes he went to high school and yes he graduated and went to college and so on and so forth, but that's life for almost everybody - we already know all that stuff. I expected something more than that. My honest thoughts are that this is a bad movie that is being grossly overhyped due to way it was filmed.
Sensitivity Linklater is my sensitivity. This movie is life. Simple as that.
Remarkable achievement in the history of filmmaking. Epic in every possible way.
Shout by Nerve33BlockedParent2016-08-28T18:58:40Z
You know that feeling you get when you pick up a family photo album and start reminiscing about the past. This movie is that feeling.