Mason (Ellar Coltrane), age 6, in Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. Courtesy of Matt Lankes/IFC Films
By Megan Bianco
Richard Linklater’s epic coming-of-age drama Boyhood includes the poster tagline “12 years in the making,” which might be one of the most literal of the year.
Back in 2002 the auteur began a creative challenge—spending a decade filming a family throughout the offspring’s childhoods. Casting two regular Hollywood actors and two unknowns as the kids for the dedicated experiment, Linklater penned one of the most natural realistic films ever.
In three different Texas cities throughout 2002 to 2013, we follow Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) and Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) as they grow up between divorced parents Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). Olivia is going back to school for a teaching degree and carries on with new relationships, while Mason Sr. travels around the world to rediscover himself. Mason Jr. and Samantha experience the youth of the millenial generation with friends, new family and personal discoveries.
Coltrane and Linklater’s daughter were in elementary school when shooting began and out of high school by the time production wrapped.
To see on screen the growth of the actors is so subtle and naturalistic it’s practically a cinematic photo album.
Linklater himself, who already gave us adolescence on film with Slacker (1991), Dazed and Confused (1993) and School of Rock (2003), is now at the prime of his career. Boyhood delivers honesty through direction, the most effective gimmick of all time and a soundtrack that aptly captures an era.