Boyhood

12 years, that's how long it took Richard Linklater to finish Boyhood and the end product is amazing. Linklater is a genius. Every year he assembles his actors to shoot the scenes, I mean, how awesome and patient is that. I loved him with his Before series but this film made me loved him even more. Thank goodness he got Ethan Hawke to play Mason Sr., he lit up the room in every scene, so to speak. Again, this movie is actionless and villainless. It's the story of all of us. It's boring at times but that's real life. This film perfectly captured the normalcy of everyday life. Everyone is relatable.

It started when Mason Jr. was 5, a very cute and lively little boy and ended when he's 18, he's in college and he turned into a lanky, awkward teenager. Trying to find his way into the world and realizing that everyone is just as lost as everyone else. Nobody really knows what we're doing here, we're all trying and failing at some point in our lives. Just like the rest of us.

Ethan Hawke is brilliant at playing the cool irresponsible but very charming father. I'm so glad Ethan is in this movie, a Richard Linklater movie is not complete without Ethan or Julie Delpy, at least in my mind. I watched Before Sunrise when I was in my early 20s and I grew old with them, in that way, the Before series are very relatable.
It feels wrong to classify this film in the coming of age genre now or maybe every coming of age film before this movie should be put in another category. I don't know.