Writer-director Richard Linklater is fascinated by the passage of time and the inevitable changes time entails. His latest, Boyhood, is a highbred of two cinematic time studies, his own fictional “Before Sunrise” trilogy and British director Michael Apted’s “Up” documentaries on a group of children as they aged through the decades.
With Boyhood, Linklater’s fictional Mason Jr. grows from toddler to teen in the body of the same maturing actor, Ellar Coltrane. Working ambitiously in between other projects, Linklater shot Boyhood in bits and pieces from 2002 through 2013. Occasionally markers of particular moments appear—a candy colored iMac, 2008 Obama-Biden lawn signs and cellphones that turned smart. The focus, however, is not on societal changes but a particular boy as he finds his way toward personhood. Adulthood remains over the horizon, and the example of the “grown-ups” he has encountered is mixed.
Mason Jr.’s hard-working, hard-pressed mom, Olivia (Patricia Arquette), is raising him and his sister Samantha (Linklater’s daughter Lorelei). Their biological father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke), is a partier with a good spirit; he’s the fun every-other-weekend dad whose occasional flashes of wisdom are hard earned. Although on her way to earning a psychology degree, Olivia seems unable to apply the textbook cases to her own choices in men. Jr.’s worst stepfather, Bill (Marco Perella), seems nice at first, but—a telling moment—hides his booze in the closet behind the bleach bottle. He is a wobble-footed authoritarian who tries to run his fusion family, with children from two mothers, with a discipline he doesn’t impose on himself. Bill is increasingly abusive.
Only seven when Linklater’s camera started rolling, Coltrane proves himself a capable center of gravity as the years roll on. Linklater adopted ideas from Coltrane and other cast members in an effort to achieve realistic, in the moment responses to his scenarios. Some scenes have an almost documentary feel (and some drag on too long) as they catch the messy dynamic of contemporary family life. With Mason Jr., Linklater and Coltrane have fashioned an endearing protagonist, a smart kid who goes from Harry Potter to Kurt Vonnegut, from dreaming of girls from their pictures in lingerie catalogues to experiencing them first hand, from no certain identity to the pursuit of a creative life.
Boyhood is screening in Milwaukee at the Oriental Theatre.
