From here, the movie takes us on a 12+ year journey over the course of around 2 hours and 45 minutes. And no, new actors and actresses do not replace Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater. This movie, directed by Richard Linklater, was filmed over the course of 12 years. Maybe you should read that again: filmed over the course of 12 years. Over this time frame, we get to see these characters develop and grow in fascinating directions.
Though the movie is called Boyhood, it really feels that at the beginning this movie should be renamed Family. For much of the early going, the more interesting characters are Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad got divorced largely due to the fact that Dad was too immature and young to handle a life with two children. In search of someone with a more disciplined life, Mom gets involved with two individuals who definitely know a thing or two about discipline. First, she marries and divorces a college professor named Bill Welbrock (Marco Perella); and later, for a time has (I believe as I didn’t see a wedding ring) a live-in boyfriend, Jim (Brad Hawkins), who served in the military. Unfortunately for her and her children, both are alcoholics. Mom also grows up with a desire to achieve, but ends up as someone who has a nice paycheck, but has become house poor . . . essentially ending up where she started, but just better educated. Dad meanwhile lives a musician’s life in Houston. While there, he slowly turns himself into the man that Mom probably would have wanted to marry: a man with discipline, a touch of the wild side, and definitely not a drunk. Dad also goes from a big time liberal who encourages his two children to put up Obama lawn signs to one who (dare I even say it) probably considered putting up Romney signs in the next presidential election – partially driven by the fact that his second marriage was to a woman that gave off the impression of being a conservative Christian.
During the middle of the movie, a title called Siblings is more appropriate. For much of the movie, until she leaves for college, Samantha is just as important in this movie as Mason. There is a real tender moment in the movie when Dad comes back from Alaska. He is in Mason’s room. Mason is showing him arrowheads and snake vertebrae that he has collected. Not wanting to be left out, Samantha comes into the room with some photos. The Dad tries the impossible, paying attention to both of his children. And though it is impossible, he does his best. Yes, Samantha is not the child who is ignored in favor of another. Neither parent has a favorite, they love both children equally.
In the beginning and middle of this movie, I call it Family and then Siblings, because in some ways I found Mason’s childhood life less interesting than the others in his immediate family. I’m not saying I didn’t like Ellar Coltrane’s acting as a child actor and a tween. I’m just saying I found myself connecting with Mason later in his life as he was in his high school years. He still had those early traits with him that you saw at the beginning of the movie where he was just a bit of a scatterbrain. But in other ways you saw his passion in life (photography) and that was thrilling.
This is a movie that grows on you. This isn’t a movie that digs deep into a brief period of time such as a movie like August: Osage County. You only get maybe twenty minutes worth of storyline per selected year in this family’s life. What this movie does do is give you the breathtaking landscape of an individual’s youth: the good, the bad, the banal.
Highlight: One of my favorite Los Angeles bands is Family of the Year. I believe the first time I saw this band was September, 2010. They were doing a residency at Silverlake Lounge. Their song ‘Hero’ is featured in the movie and I say it is placed perfectly. I couldn’t help but sing along as Mason was heading off to college to find himself in the state of Texas – and yeah, maybe I irritated my fellow movie goers as I sung along.
Guess: Dad (Ethan Hawke) has a moment with his teenage son where he discusses his only personal growth and how it related to Mason’s Mom. Was this a moment where Ethan Hawke was acknowledging his own personal short-comings in regards to his marriage to Uma Thurman?
Complaint: During a drive to Austin, Mason discusses Facebook with his girlfriend. Ah . . . isn’t Mason a photographer? Shouldn’t the discussion have revolved around Instagram, which I believe based on the timeline would have fit.
**************************
Updated based on recent re-watch:
On second watch, I really did not like how the mom was portrayed. Let's contrast this with the dad. The dad is definitely someone who improved his life over the years. He settled down and was in what appeared to be a happy marriage. Even though he only saw his kids on occasion, he was still a solid part of their lives. He even was philosophical, admitting that adults were trying to figure life out just as much as children. In terms of the mom, she started the movie looking to improve her life. She immediately moved the family to Houston in order to get a college degree and eventually got a masters degree. At the start of the movie, one would think that the dad would be a slacker for the rest of his life while the mom would improve her life. Instead, we appear to end the movie with a mother who is broken. Three failed marriages. Forced to sell her house (due to a drop of family income resulting from the third divorce). And what one might describe as a mental breakdown when Mason leaves for college. I get the housing situation was an attempt to show the impact of the housing bubble. Yet all that could possibly go wrong in one's life seemed to occur to the mom and the movie seems to end with her feeling defeated. Let me emphasize something: both parents realize at the end of the movie that they don't really understand life that well, but the dad views it as a challenge while the mom views it as a defeat. Perhaps there was a glimmer of hope there in terms of future love as Mason's former boss seemed very intrigued by the mom.
I also found another theme of the movie to be a bit disturbing on second glance. Perhaps I found it a touch disturbing when first watching the movie, but certain events in the Los Angeles music scene has made it more of an issue for me. The Los Angeles music scene has had to deal with accusations of grooming and statutory rape claims in 2020, which provide the context. There is a theme in the movie where older women are attracted to Mason (actually throughout his life girls and women find him attractive). There are two distinct moments I want to highlight. First, when his mom has a house party for her college students one of her students hangs out with Mason in his room. She is definitely doing some flirting. How old is she? Probably 19 or 20. I make that assumption based on the following: We know that the mother has a masters degree and is probably teaching at Texas State University San Marcos. With a masters degree she probably isn't teaching graduate students and more likely teaching freshmen or sophomores. Based on the timeline, Mason was 15. The scene is awkward and has that Cherry Glazerr storyline feel to it. Even more awkward is when Mason has his graduation party. His mom's friend, a fellow professor, makes the moves on Mason. She's likely in her early to mid 40s like the mom (the movie mentions that the mom was 24 when Mason was born, which makes her around 42 when he graduates from high school). The friend does show up in the background throughout the time in San Marcos, but there doesn't appear to be any prior interaction between Mason and the friend until the end of the movie. Was there some grooming scenes during his younger years that didn't make the final cut of the movie?
Minor final thought: the movie is a lengthy 2 hours and 45 minutes. I wonder how much didn't make the cut. Back to the graduation party, the dad's brother just shows up in the movie. Like many of the characters in the movie, was the uncle always in the background storyline, but just didn't make the final cut until the end? I do believe that his character (was his wife with him?) is the only character in the movie that we see for the first time (perhaps Mason's high school friend, as well, though he might have been in other high school scenes).
Final final thought: Back to my comments about contrasting the mom and dad, during that graduation party there is a recognition that only one of the mom's three husbands are at the party while both wives of the dad are there. Just another signal about how these two adults have been able to deal with life. Now perhaps I'm being too harsh on the direction the movie is taking. It is highly possible that the point of the movie is that taking the more artistic approach to life leads to a more satisfying life -- the mother improved her life via an intellectual improvement while the father was a musician who finally had to take a regular job in insurance. The movie's message might be that pursuing your dreams (even if you fail) leads to that satisfactory life. Of course, that might contrast with the final message of the movie, which is that moments seize the person instead of people seizing the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment