MYST Post #3: Boyhood

This movie has been on my list for awhile. It got a lot of praise with the awards and critics, and because of those positive reviews, it went on my list. Not only that, my friend had watched it and said strongly recommended it. So, today I decided to watch it (and I also needed another MYST post). 

Boyhood follows a boy, Mason, through his life over a period of 12 years. Through this, the viewer gets to see the challenges he faces, the people he meets, and just his life. I really enjoyed this movie. It was not what I expected it to be. If you're thinking I'm meaning the fact that it is a progression of twelve years, I'm not. I knew that. I thought there would be more action in it and more climatic events. But there wasn't. Yet, in some way I still really enjoyed and would be glad to watch it again sometime when I have a lot of free time. The only is I didn't realize it was so long! 

Anyways, what I felt was so good was the realness of the dialogue and how natural it was. The conversations were very real, and it didn't sound scripted. It is very similar to the scene we watched from On the Waterfront (1954). The conversation between the two characters was very relaxed. Likewise, in Boyhood the situations always play out in a very real way. There is not fluff or perfection. It's just life. In one particular scene, Mason is collecting some of his art that is on display when a lady approaches him and asks about his plans for college. His response are rather short and not very exciting. To a viewer, it may awkward and very boring and you may feel like something big should happen. But if you think about that conversation in real life, it would play out very similarly. Also, there was some subtle humor in it that I enjoyed. I would prefer something with humor in it than something sad any day, so that added a nice element to the dialogue to keep a lighter tone overall. 

The cast in this movie did a very good job. To start, Patricia Arquette stared as Mason's mother and  was fantastic in this film. She won many, many awards for her role as a supporting actress, not just one, but many. I was not familiar with her work before, but after seeing this film, I am definitely interested in see some of her other work. She is going to be the star in the new series CSI: Cyber, so maybe I will check that out. Ethan Hawke was another one that stood out. I had this idea that he would be in this film a lot more than he was. He was Mason's biological father that was not married to his mother, so by default he doesn't get to see Mason all the time, but I still thought he would have more appearances. When he did, however, I really liked his character. He was this kinda cool dad, but still really cared about his kids, and he was funny. Like Patricia Arquette, I was not familiar with his work, but I really enjoyed his performance and am interested in seeing what else he has done. One of the other characters that I took a liking to was Samantha, Mason's sister played by Lorelei Linklater, or the director's, Richard Linklater's, daughter. This was her first big film, and she did a nice job with it. Her character throughout the whole film was fun to watch because she always had some funny or witty remark. In one scene right at the beginning of the film, she throws a pillow at her brother while he is sleeping and wakes him up. Only then does she start singing a Britney Spears song and dancing. It was something a sister would do, and in the entire film she was always making remarks about her brother. Without a doubt, she nailed the sister character. 

The way the film progresses through the years was done so well. There was never a lot of attention drawn to it; for example, no words appeared on the screen to say "the next year" or "one year later", but rather, it just happened. Another nice element of the progression is the fact that you get to see multiple characters develop and mature and learn. The mom (Arquette) we see first as a struggling single mom, trying to raise her kids. Though she struggles throughout the whole film with marriages and money, there is still a maturity that happens. Samantha and Mason's biological father (Hawke) starts out as their somewhat low life dad that turns into a responsible, married family man with a wife and another child. Samantha starts out as a little girl and turns into an adult in college. Mason goes through the same. There is a central focus on one boy, but it's not overly emphasized and through this the viewer is able to pay attention to all these different characters and their struggles and what they face in their lives. 

For this movie, I give it 5 out of 5 stars. If you are looking to watch something really excited, then I would not recommend this, but if you want something more relaxed (and have a lot of time) then this is a great movie!