Pokematic Reviews, Boyhood (It took 12 years to make)

This is a 2 part series. If you haven't already done so, please read my review of Birdman. Without any further ado.

If it's not a good game or catholic...who do you call?...why Pokematic "hi."

"Boyhood, it took 12 years to make. It's a movie that follows a boy as he grows up to an adult, and it was filmed over a 12 year period."

OK, so that's kind of the pitch for Boyhood. It was nominated for best picture of the year, and it lost to Birdman. It's big gimmick is that instead of getting actors that look like each other over a 12 year span, it used the same actors over an actual 12 year span, so, what is a movie that took 12 years to make like? I'm just going to say it right now, it's down right amazing. This is the best movie I've seen this year. It is a masterpiece. How can I say this?

Well lets start out with the story. It follows young Mason from about ages 6 to 18, and all the things that go along with growing up. And that's basically it. There's no "end game," no "final goal," no "overarching plot," just "a boy grows up and we watch him mature." When I boil it down like that, it sounds pretty boring. But on the contrary, it's one of the most interesting movies I've seen, ever. It's very unpredictable, because life is unpredictable. Will Mason's dad stay a big part of his life as he grows older? Will his mom's new husband be his new father figure? Will his parents get back together? Will his dirty pictures he got from his friend get found? Will the buzz cut help him socially at school or hurt him socially? We don't know. It's not like "crazy plot twists," just "we don't know what will happen because life is unpredictable." And that's what's really so powerful about this. As someone who was once Mason's age, at all points of the movie, there are a lot of things that are relatable. Anyone who was ever a boy will probably find something to relate to. It's a coming of age story, and since there are so many different stories in it, you can probably find something that either you or a close friend went through. It really hits close to home.

Before I continue on, there are some plot threads that are left unfinished. Some ends remain loose. I won't spoil them, but they are present. Now this could be interpreted as bad story telling. Like "well what ever happened to that?" Well, that's how life is. We constantly have things in our lives that don't receive any closure. This happens more in the early years than in the later years, but that's in part because Mason learns how to get closure due to him having more control over his surroundings. Remember how as a kid you didn't have much control over what happened in your life, and you didn't have a lot of say as to if you had closure or not? Well, that feeling is conveyed in this movie as well. Somethings leave our lives as fast as they entered, and some story elements leave the movie as fast as they entered as well. Additionally, we aren't really left wondering for long, because Mason moved on, much in the same way that we moved on with things we never got closure with.

Next I should cover the acting and characters. The story follows Mason, a 6-18 year old boy/man as he grows up. He has his friends, his step dads, his biological parents and siblings, and stuff like that. He's a creative kid and he lets his creativity overtake his schooling. He's not the most "interesting" character ever, but he's probably the most relatable. Chances are, we've all gone through something he's facing at any moment, be it moving away from friends, not liking school, parents saying "my house my rules," chores, young love, schoolwork that just doesn't seem useful, applying for college, trying to find who you are, having a strong relationship with your parents, etc. We aren't exactly like Mason, but we've had experiences like Mason. And Mason plays it really well. I'm guessing it's not that hard to play a boy when you are a boy, but it has it's moments.

His sister Sam, dad Mason Sr. and Mom are all there. Similar to Mason, they are there for Mason, and aren't anything super special, but super relatable. Of the supporting characters, Mason Sr is probably the most flushed out. Mason and Sam primarily live with Mom, and we start with the though of "dad is kind of in the picture, but not really, only every other weekend" sort of a deal. And it is like that for the first couple of years, but as the movie goes on, Mason Sr. and Jr. really bond, and Mason Sr. grows with Mason. At the start of the movie, he's kind of the "cool, immature, more of an older but responsible brother" kind of father; but as the movie progresses, Mason Sr. grows into a "real dad" sort of character. The transformation is pretty impressive. Sure, the actor had 12 years to grow, but it's quite impressive. Sam and Mom are there, and they do their best to be there for Mason, and they are. Mom is protective of Mason when she needs to be but she lets him make his own mistakes and Sam is there as much as an older sister needs to be. There's no cheesy "help me learn about girls" sort of things, but she's a presence none the less.

Now for some technical aspects. Since we are watching him grow up, changes would naturally be subtle. Like I think about people that I've known and been close with for many years. I don't necessarily notice them changing unless I haven't seen them in a while. Each "act" I'll call it takes place in kind of each year of Mason's life. The main thing that they use to signal a difference is his hair. His hair changes style and length based on the point in his life. Other things such as piercings, acne, and clothes also signal changes, but it's mostly the hair that signals change. Over the 2.75 hours of movie, we watch him change from a young boy into a young man, and it does a good job of showing the small changes from year to year. Being filmed in the relative present, all technology and styles are accurate, and it works really well.

Now one thing that this movie gets made fun of for is that "it's the movie that took 12 years to make." Red Letter Media apparently made a supercut of every time the director says "it took 12 years to make" or something like that. I just heard it from my friends, I don't really watch Red Letter Media, I think they're generally to cynical. Anyways, there's a big reason for that. It's not a movie that has an amazing 1 sentence pitch. Lets look at some other movies.
Star Wars: farm boy has to learn the magical way of the force to take down the evil galactic empire.
Indiana Jones Raiders: archeologist races against the Nazis to get the arc of the covanant
Birdman: crazy type-casted actor has to prove to the world that he's a real artist
Harry Potter: young boy learns magic to defeat the evil lord Voldimort
Jurassic Park: scientists bring dinosaurs back to life for a zoo like theme park only to find out that they aren't that easy to control

And then there's Boyhood: watch a kid grow up.

It's not an easy sell. Sure, it's amazing in practice, but it's boring on paper. The thing that will get people in the seats are "this took 12 years to make, these are the same actors as they age over a 12 year period," and then they stay in their seats for a rather realistic and relatable portrayal of a boy growing into a man.

The bottom line, this movie is amazing. I absolutely loved it. Coming of age stories are a little hard to do right in my books, because it's all based on the audience being able to relate to the situation. Well, Boyhood offers enough situations that anyone who was once a boy can find relatable. I think anyone who was once a boy should see Boyhood, and anyone who was around a boy that was growing up in front of them should see it as well. Basically anyone who is mature enough to handle the realistic R-rated portrayal of growing up should see this movie. Yes, it is rated R, there is a fair amount of swearing, some domestic violence, teen drinking and drug use, and 1.5 instances of sexual/suggestive content, but it's all part of growing up. Everything is done very tastefully. Well, this has been Pokematic, signing off, I hope you enjoyed this dual review, and bu-bye.