So this film has been getting ALL critics excited and I am yet to see a bad review of it.

 

It's a coming of age story, but told in a really unique, inspiring way. This film has been recording on the hush, hush for over 12 years and it has the same cast throughout the whole 12 years! Really innovative, ground breaking cinema! The young boy was followed from the age of 6 through to the age of 18!

 

 

I'm a fan of this coming of age sort of films, but this one looks absolutely breath taking and the concept/premise of it, looks stunning.

 

100% on Rotten Tomatoes (from 41 reviews!)

8.9 on IMDB (from 2k+ users)

94/100 on Metacritic

This looks absolutely amazing, will probably have to see it when it comes on DVD!

Very interesting concept! It must be weird for the actors involved to see themselves over a period of 12 years, in one film. Looking forward to seeing this!

Saw it last night - a great watch. From the point of view of documenting a made up life using the same cast throughout a 12 year period it's worth all the hype and, as a film, it really stands up too. There aren't any crazy plot twists, it's an enjoyable 12 years condensed into annual 15 minute vignettes where easy escapism is the winner.

Loved this, even though you're watching pretty ordinary life it's never boring at any point. I felt perhaps a tiny bit of drag towards the end but otherwise it doesn't feel like a film that's going on nearly three hours in length!

 

Patricia Arquette sure knew how to choose them. The whole 'concept' is amazing and not only did I love the evolution of his hair throughout but the cultural stuff that was thrown in and it's strange to think that the Obama scene would've been shot around the time of the 2008 election (same for the Harry Potter stuff etc.)

 

I kept wondering how it would end and it wasn't on a remarkable note but that was the point really.

Still need to see this! Wish it'd hurry up and leak online. :( Still has a brilliant score on RT (98%) and I'm so excited to see it.

Incredible! Definitely see this as soon as you can! Amazing to see such a thorough depiction of growing up in the 2000s after having just done it yourself. It felt like re-living my own childhood despite having a vastly different upbringing compared to Mason. It was just great to watch it and feel like they were naturally living in this century, no forced cliches in the dialogue or anything like that. Mason and Samantha were both really interesting characters!

When I'm a bit older I want to see this so bad, it looks fantastic.

It really does feel at times that you're actually watching someone's life rather than it being a film which using the same actors probably helps. I really enjoyed it and considering it's length and, due to it's nature, lack of suspense, I never got bored.

 

Also, I agree that it was so good seeing all the cultural references seeing as though I'm nearly the same age as Mason. The fact it was filmed as these were all going on helped that they didn't feel shoehorned as films often do when they're set just a few years before they are made.

Edited September 7, 201410 yr by Rabbit Heart

Still need to see this! Wish it'd hurry up and leak online. :( Still has a brilliant score on RT (98%) and I'm so excited to see it.

I streamed it last night (although it had Chinese subtitles) - I can send you a link if you'd like?

 

I thought it was pretty brilliant as far as the concept goes. There were no crazy plot twists, as others have said, but Mason's and Samantha's personal evolution throughout the years was really interesting to witness. At the end, I felt there was a bit too much on Mason's revolving doors of girlfriends, but then that is the '''norm''' (three inverted commas needed!) I guess. Both parents' stories were really interesting to witness also, I don't know why after Olivia

married a teacher and it didn't work out, she proceeded to marry a student which also (surprise, surprise) didn't work out.

It also irked me how she

left her step-children with their abuse father, and then they weren't mentioned again.

Other than that, it was enjoyable overall.

I'm going to see this next week, very excited as I love Linklater!

I saw this in July and it's something that I fondly remember even weeks afterwards because of its scope. It's almost like 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour' in terms of having characters on screen for so long and over such a long period of their lives, they actually feel like real people. Go see it!

The concept is great, following a boy as he grows into his teens. But the lack of an ongoing storyline made this a complete chore for me and sapped away most of the enjoyment I could have got out of such a wonderful idea. :(

 

I saw this a couple of months back, I've not spoken to a single person who has the same opinion as me...

My girlfriend wanted us to leave the cinema because she got bored 2 hours into it but thankfully we stayed (she slept through the remaining hour) :D. It's not for impatient film-goers and is more catered for a particular audience of art-house lovers. I enjoyed it very much. I found it hard to stomach the domestic abuse storyline though, it felt all too real :(

"Boyhood" is one of the most hyped up movies this year. Many cinefiles already believe that it'll be one of the big winners of the upcoming Oscar awards. The fact that it was filmed for 12 years is something that made it a pioneer in cinema. It's based on maturity of the main character, starting at the age 5 and ending at 19. It's a very difficult project because the actors and the director had to meet every year to shot the scenes. And that was a big risk for the creator because there was a chance that one of the actors could have died and his plan would have gone down the drain. Eventually everything went very well and "Boyhood" opened in a limited release in North America last July.

The instigator of this concept was the director/screenwriter Richard Linklater. The IFC Films, which always support independently financed films and documentaries, agreed to cooperate with him. The directing was quite good although I think the script was even better. I liked almost all the dialogues of the film because it was well-written, intelligent and instructive. The fact that while the story went on, popular songs from each time played, which made it a very smart move because we understood what year progressed everything. The performances were pretty good by everyone although both siblings were seemed quite dull, awkward and boring in the last half hour of the film. Maybe the director/writer wanted their two main characters performing like that, but how many young people are seen so hypnotising? However, their acting was nice (especially Ellar Coltrane) and their parents (Ethan Hawke-Patricia Arquette) did it even better. It had good photography and the editing team did a very good job because there were plenty of material and they were able to make the best choices from them. The soundtrack was amazing and the song which played on the official trailer and the last scene of the movie (Family Of The Year - Hero) will always remind me this story as a sweet memory. Although it is 165 minutes, it didn't tire us because the plot was maintained at the same good level throughout the duration. Maybe, it was a little bit sluggish in the end of the film due to the temperamental and the psychological wellbeing of the main character but that of course does not affect in any way the overall value!

The film was first officially recognized at the Sundance Film Festival which received very positive reviews. Also, it competed in the main competition at the Berlin Film Festival and Linklater won the Silver Bear Award for "Best Director"! It was also screened in other film festivals and everyone said very good words about it. However, it was not just a film that critics totally praised but it was already loved by the viewers who watched it as it has received one of the highest average scores on IMDb so far (8,7). I guess that many people gave 10 to it! It 's already in the list of the 50 best films of all time according to users of IMDb and this is the best advertising. It's a very beautiful story that has an amazing journey and you will share the aging process and teenage worries of a very sympathetic character.

Watched this yesterday for the second time. It's such a great film, very long but flows really well. Only thing I didn't like was the mother's last scene, it was so sad, I really wanted her to end up happy after so many failed relationships. But I guess they wanted to highlight the empty nest syndrome, so I get it.

Finally got to see this last night and it was wonderful! So beautifully executed. :wub: