Boyhood (2014)

The life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writer:

Richard Linklater

Stars:

Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke

Won 1 Oscar. Another 173 wins & 217 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ellar Coltrane	...	Mason
Patricia Arquette	...	Olivia
Elijah Smith	...	Tommy
Lorelei Linklater	...	Samantha
Steven Chester Prince	...	Ted (as Steven Prince)
Bonnie Cross	...	Teacher
Sydney Orta	...	Elementary School Girl (as Sidney Orta)
Libby Villari	...	Grandma
Ethan Hawke	...	Dad
Marco Perella	...	Professor Bill Welbrock
Jamie Howard	...	Mindy
Andrew Villarreal	...	Randy
Shane Graham	...	Neighborhood Friend #1
Tess Allen	...	Neighborhood Friend #2
Ryan Power	...	Paul

Storyline

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason's parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay's Yellow to Arcade Fire's Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.

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Plot Keywords:

domestic abuse | 12 year time span | separated parents | growing up | parenting | 

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Taglines:

12 years in the making

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including sexual references, and for teen drug and alcohol use

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film features two songs by Arcade Fire ("Suburban War" and "Deep Blue"). Coincidentally, two of the film's actors (Sam Dillon and Zoë Graham, who played Nick and Sheena, respectively) also appear in Spike Jonze's Scenes from the Suburbs (2011), a 2011 short film based completely on Arcade Fire''s 2010 album "The Suburbs," and featuring numerous songs from the album. Both Boyhood (2014) and "Scenes" were filmed in Austin, Texas.

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Goofs

The scene at the Houston Astros game where Roger Clemens is pitching was taken from August 30, 2006, when the Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0. Dad later tells his friend that "Lane won it with a 3-run homer," which did not happen. In fact, the only 3-run home run Jason Lane ever hit against Milwaukee was in the bottom of the 7th inning on April 17, 2006. The actual footage of Lane circling the bases was from the Astros' 5-2 loss to Milwaukee on August 18, 2005 - a year before the Clemens footage. All of these dates were determined from cross-referencing the out-of-town scoreboard in the background.

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Quotes

Mason: I just feel like there are so many things that I could be doing and probably want to be doing that I'm just not.
Sheena: Why aren't you?
Mason: I mean, I guess, it's just being afraid of what people would think. You know, judgement.
Sheena: Yeah. I guess it's really easy to say, like I don't care what anyone else thinks. But everyone does, you know. Deep down.
Mason: I find myself so furious at all these people that I am in contact with just for controlling me or whatever but you know they are not even aware they are doing it.
Sheena: ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Dwayne Johnson/George Ezra (2015)

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Soundtracks

Desencabulada
Written by Luis Felipe Gama, Rodrigo Campos
Performed by Luísa Maita
Published by Cumbancha Music Publishing (BMI)
Courtesy of Cumbancha Music
License arranged by Fine Gold Music

User Reviews

Good movie, but not as good as the hype and some of these reviews say.

Boyhood is shot in 12 years, every year two weeks, with the same cast. That is the first time anyone did something like this and therefor this movie got a lot of attention. People say it's an instant classic.

The acting is good, especially Patricia Arquette will be remembered for her part of Mom. The way she struggles as a young mom ('I was somebody's daughter, then I was somebody's mother!') and matures throughout the movie is memorable to say the least. Although the main character of the movie is her son Mason (Ellar Coltrane, who was 6 when the first scene was shot and 18 when the last scene was shot) the story of the mother is as interesting as his, if not even more. With so many years of filming, the way the scenes flow into each other without noticing a year has passed is also wonderfully done. It was a joy to watch this movie, the dialogues are strong, the acting good and the montage was sublime.

But everything that was remotely starting to add some drama to the easily flowing story, was immediately solved when the next scene took place a year later. I tried to wrap my head around what was wrong with this movie, why I didn't have the orgasmic enthusiasm I read on the internet reviews and that is the thing: it is almost boring. Almost, because the story that is being told is still interesting although not much happens. You walk along with this boy from 6 to 18 when the movie ends. What happens next? I don't really care. It's a nice experience but will I remember the story next year? I doubt that. But once again, I think Patricia Arquette is the star here. If not for her, my rating would be lower.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

15 August 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Untitled 12 Year Project

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$387,618, 13 July 2014

Gross USA:

$25,352,281

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,137,666

Company Credits

Production Co:

IFC Productions, Detour Filmproduction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

165 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1