Boyhood starts with an amazing premise that can catch the attention of anyone who is easily susceptible to nostalgia, or wants to see a live action diary on film. The idea that it was shot over 12 years shows the cast and staff’s remarkable dedication while showing the aging of the family in real time.
That’s as far as my praise can go. The unusually high Rotten Tomato score makes me wonder who reviewed this film. It’s “greatness” is nothing more than a gimmick. Like all gimmick’s, the gimmick doesn’t go beyond the surface.
The first issue is that the film doesn’t have anything that resembles a plot. There is no singular problem that the character, even the Mason (protagonist), have to solve. Rather, there are a series of unrelated subplots that were resolved rather quickly, or could have been avoided by a little forethought or common sense.
Even at the end of the Mason’s journey, where (spoiler) Mason starts college, he hasn’t learned anything. His life experiences haven’t seemed to effect him in any way. After finishingBoyhood, I scratched my head and asked, “What was the point of that?”
Mason doesn’t have any definable or distinctive character traits. Aside from being sad that the world is not as engaged in interpersonal communications as he would like, he lacks depth and doesn’t contribute much to the world around him.
Boyhood is a perfect example of “nothing ever happens”. There was some walking, talking and a few angry drunk guys. Multiple times, the movie teases you with interesting things, but then says, “just kidding” and goes back to abusing you for your loyalty.
In short, Boyhood is a test of patience that punishes you for sticking it out to the end. In conclusion, when you look at the person sitting next to you and they’re asleep, something has gone terribly wrong.