First Take: Boyhood- at least I didn’t wait 12 years to see it

SYPNOSIS:

The life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college

Yes, I’m a few years late to the party, but now felt like the right time to review Richard Linklater’s 12 year project, and as you would all expect, I loved every minute of it.

Linklater has written a story that engages every viewer, by letting them revisit their childhoods through Mason’s eyes, and he and his editors have done an incredible job taking 12 years of footage and editing it down to a 2 and a half hour film- obviously, it’s still a little too long for the casual cinemagoer, but considering how much happens in the film, it feels like the perfect length to tell the story of Mason. The performances are just absolutely first class, with Ellar Coltrane providing a very captivating performance as the lead character, and with a great supporting cast including Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, it’s easy to understand how much potential it had going into the 2014/15 awards season. It is shot brilliantly by Lee Daniel and Shane Kelly, and it is a rare film that has a soundtrack that has every base covered- from Bob Dylan to Britney, every choice of song has meaning, and even the little details like changes in technology are there too, making this a very realistic portrayal of a ‘coming of age’ scenario.

THE VERDICT

12 years, 1 film, 5 stars. Linklater has taken an impossible idea and executed it with class. It’s a great film with some top class performances, and there isn’t much I can fault with it really.

RATING: 5/5