Boyhood is a lot of different things rolled into two-hours-and-forty-five minutes. So many things in fact, that it’s fairly hard to grasp what exactly the movie tries to get across to its viewers.
For the most part however, the movie outlines the average experiences a boy in America has while reaching adulthood. The production value and dedication of the crew to the film really shines through in the end.
The most impressive aspect of the movie is that it was 12 years in the making. The cast and crew dedicated themselves to this project for such a period of time, it’s wonderful to see the actors grow up on screen along with their characters.
The transitions from year-to-year in the shoes of the main actor, Mason, are smooth and unhampering to the rest of the film. Because of its originality, it’s genuinely a very intriguing experience from start to finish
For practicality reasons the movie is set up in three different sections, the first being childhood where the main character Mason goes through a 90s kid’s experience.
The second section is about growing up with a broken family and finally, the third section is all about young adulthood and figuring out what one’s purpose is.
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Seeing Mason’s relationship with his mother, father and sister evolve sets the stage for the rest of the film.
It’s the shortest part of the film, but seeing the actors that young is vital to the transformation the movie is advertising.
Mason’s family is broken, and unfortunately that is something a lot of people growing up in contemporary society face. While Mason is young he and his sister are subject to their parents being divorced.
Seeing their father a very limited amount of time in the beginning and having a single mother makes growing up difficult, but not as challenging as the issue of abusive relationships. During the film, Mason’s mother falls for multiple men with varying degrees of alcoholism. All of these men leave impressions on Mason and his sister.
The final portion takes up most of the screen time while Mason tries to forward himself in life. A lot of ponderous questions are raised and considered while Mason searches for guidance from his biological father and sibling.
Mason deals with overbearing teachers, constant criticism from his parents as well as society and a general disarray of emotional break-ups and adolescent confusion.
This section is the most relatable in the movie, as it depicts the final stages of boyhood and the final stages of becoming a man.
Seeing the generational experience is really what this movie is all about. For the older generations such as the Baby Boomers, this movie is more of a window into what growing up is like right now for children and young adults.
For the younger scene the nostalgic trip throughout the movie is very strong, with references to TV shows like Dragon Ball Z, early songs from Britney Spears and numerous nods to the Harry Potter series.
Either way, any viewer can watch the movie and sneak a peek into Mason’s life and try to relate.
One of the problems with the movie however is how fast certain problems are touched upon. The movie itself focuses on an average boy growing up and specifically tries to touch on the average.
Mason discovering women and relationships, moving around multiple times and having a set of divorced parents are the main focuses of the movies, but aspects such as bullying and peer-pressure are not fully fleshed-out.
For example, Mason is really only “bullied” once for about five minutes where he gets shoved in a bathroom in middle school. The scene is a little awkward and not really relevant to the rest of the film because of its awkward length and placement.
The same can be said for the peer-pressure part of the film when Mason is asked to take a beer and one of his other friends says no.
There isn’t any more development in the issue, as Mason just goes along with it and ends up growing up drinking and smoking pot regardless of the scene. Both scenes seem almost unimportant to the rest of the film and do not have an impact on the final product much at all.
The movie as a whole is an extremely refreshing, original experience: take the same actors and over a 12-year period, film them acting out an “average” life.
Though the movie is long and its ideas spread out, it really is something worthwhile. The movie itself can be summed up by one of its most beautiful and defining lines: “We’ve all been through the same thing, one way or another.”
Eric Jedd can be contacted at ejedd@keene-equinox.com