MONDAY MOVIES: “Boyhood”

You may already know by now, since “Boyhood” is getting rave reviews, but here’s the plot of the movie: For nearly three hours, we watch a boy grow up through 12 years of his life. That’s all there is to it. Yet, in its simplicity, it’s one of the most elaborate and beautiful movies ever made.

First, the main cast of the movie spent part of each year for 12 years making this project. That means that those people were dedicated to cataloging their life year by year. And while those people slowly grew up in real life, they grew up quickly in this movie. The time flies by throughout the film, both because of the structure of the plot, but also because it’s hard not to want to see where these characters will end up, what they’ll look like, who they’ll be. There’s an anticipation here that other movies spend millions more dollars and special effects to achieve… but here it’s so organic and profound.

But more than anything, you should see this movie because it’s a reflection of all of us: We all grow up. We have ups and downs; our lives are full of real life heroes and villains; we don’t always know all the answers or how to deal with all of life’s problems. We look in the mirror one day and realize we have a little less time than yesterday to do all that we want to do with our life. That’s part of the human experience. And “Boyhood” reminds us of just how human we really are.

boyhood Pic courtesy: IMDB