Boyhood

As exhausted as I was Sunday night, I couldn’t miss the Golden Globes!  And I couldn’t have been more thrilled to witness the movie, “Boyhood” winning the Best Drama – Motion Picture!   As I am sure you heard, it also won for Best Director – Richard Linklater and Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette!

A while back, I mentioned how I really wanted to see this movie.  Having been a long time fan of Linklater’s trilogy – “Before Sunrise”, “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight”,  I had a feeling this film would be something special.  As a mom of two boys, I was looking forward to watching the changes and experiences a boy goes through growing up.

So, a few days after Christmas, I talked my husband into renting the movie off the DVR.  He admitted it wouldn’t have been something he would have chosen to watch, but he agreed to sit through it with me.  I think he was at least amused by the idea of a movie that took 12 years to make.  Well, I am happy to report that we both thoroughly enjoyed the movie and it sparked conversation for some time afterwards.

“Boyhood” is the story that follows the life of Mason, (Ellar Coltrane), a 6 year old boy and his family.  His divorced parents are brilliantly played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke and he has an older sister, Samantha, (played by Lorelei Linklater).  The story simply follows their lives over a 12 year period.  It’s an independent, low budget movie that doesn’t follow a typical “formula” to make it work.  The movie focuses on the characters, life experiences, relationships…moments.

Part of the appeal of Boyhood is the ability to see our own lives in the characters.  We’d probably all take something different away from the movie.  Moments.  It’s the moments that we remember.  In one scene, the dad was dropping off  Mason and his sister with their mom.  The two children ran over to the window to witness their parents talking outside.  One of of them said something like, “Do you think they’ll get back together?”.  That simple line struck a chord with me because that was my sister and me at that age.  Our parents divorced when we were young and for the longest time we would hang onto the hope that somehow our parents would get back together.  I am sure those are common feelings for children of divorce and if you never experienced divorce in your family, you may take something else away from that scene.  

I think everyone picks up on different parts of the movie.  If you are a parent, you will relate to the school references, the struggles, the sibling arguments.  You will also reflect on your own childhood.  Times may have changed but certain aspects of growing up are universal.

When you watch the movie, make sure you continue past the credits to the interviews at the end.  Even though you will have just watched the children grow up and the adults mature on screen, you will get a sense of nostalgia listening to them talk about the movie.  “Oh look how cute and little they were..” you will say to yourself even though just a couple hours earlier, the movie began with them looking that way.   It will give a you a true sense of how fast time passes. 

I just loved this movie!

Have you seen Boyhood yet?

What about any other of the movies nominated?