Best Picture Review: Boyhood

Summary via Fandango:

Richard Linklater's Boyhood is a coming-of-age drama that the director spent twelve years making. He cast a young boy, Ellar Coltrane, and shot the film a few days at a time for over a decade so that he could capture how his leading actor and the rest of his cast aged. The film's story simply follows a boy named Mason (Coltrane) as he progresses from age 6 to 18 and deals with the typical travails of childhood like his parents' divorce, bad step-parents, falling in love, finding his artistic voice, and fighting with his bratty older sister. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette co-star as Mason's parents.

My Thoughts:

I saw this one back in the summer when it was originally released.  It was a fabulous chronicle of boyhood.  I enjoyed it!  I love that it followed the same actor over the course of so many years.  What a risky move to start filming something that would take over twelve years to complete!  That alone makes the director Oscar worthy.  SO many things could have happened over that time period that would have destroyed the entire effort so kudos to the director for having the guts to pursue such an endeavor!  Outside of the scope and effort it took to actually make the film, I also really enjoyed following Mason's story documentary style.  Since you were actually following the same boy, all of the various (mostly negative) things that were occurring (particularly in his childhood) felt more real than in other movies where you typically see scenes as flashbacks to younger days.  It was a really neat film and an interesting story though there really wasn't much closure or a strong ending.  It didn't bother me though because, of course, Mason's life was really just beginning as he headed off to college, but if you were hoping for a revelation or life lesson to be learned...you won't find it in this movie's final scenes.  Definitely recommend it, especially to someone with an interest in the child's perspective of divorce, re-marriage, and step-parenting.  I don't have much experience there, but felt this movie gave a fair portrayal from a growing boy's perspective.

Other Nominations:

Supporting Actor (Ethan Hawke)

Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette)

Directing (Richard Linklater)

Film Editing

Writing (Original Screenplay) 

Did you see Boyhood?  Which part of Mason's life was most interesting to you?

Andrea :)