“Boyhood” illustrates the mundaneness of life
By Meg Thompson, Staff Writer //
“Boyhood”, written and directed by Richard Linklater, played in the Extraordinaire Cinema on Sept. 28. The film received a significant amount of hype in the media; it was filmed over 12 years, following a boy’s life as he matures and ages through adolescence. The concept for the film is truly amazing and unique; rather than casting multiple actors to play a certain role, using the same actor over many years allows a realistic nature to come through within the film. However, the film’s run time was 2 hours and 45 minutes. While it’s a great concept, the plot line was not strong enough or substantial enough to warrant the film’s length.
Being able to use the same actors throughout the entire film allowed for deep character development. The characters of Malcolm, Samantha, and their mother were significantly adapted upon. The film also capitalized on the realistic nature of the actor’s development; his awkward years were embraced with open arms, magnifying them to show the reality of his adolescence. The dialogue remained realistic as well, keeping the entire film relatable and practical. Here’s the thing about life: it can be boring. The reality is that the majority of our lives consist of boring, everyday things that are uninteresting to audiences that want to be entertained. If this film’s purpose were to portray the reality of life, I would say it portrayed that element fairly well. The film would have been better to contain only the boy’s greatest hits. There were too many unnecessary scenes that did not move the plot forward; they simply added minutes to the run time.
In addition, the film had a severe lack of plot. The plot was the growth of Malcolm and his development through adolescence and finding himself. That is a great start, but the conflicts rarely had a direct impact with Malcolm; they were things happening around him that did not entirely keep the audience engaged. People became antsy in the cinema by two hours in, squirming and shifting their weight in their seats. As the audience exited the theater, people complained loudly about the length of the film, claiming they would not have seen the movie had they realized the length.
Overall, the film had a creative concept that could have been explored in a deeper context. The plot needed to be expanded and more detailed, but the concept was the start to what could have been a phenomenal film. A significant amount of scenes could have been emitted, as well, shortening the film to a reasonable and bearable length.