2014 - BOYHOOD, long but an impressive achievement.

The new film Boyhood is very long and at times it tends to meander.  The subplots with the mother's two additional bad marriages are a little more melodrama than the film needs but this is still a very good film. 

The film has received a lot of publicity for it's actual production situation.  Using the same actors in the same roles for 12 years, shooting on 35mm for continuity etc.  The marketing campaign has been playing up a lot of this stuff.  Still, it is interesting to watch the cast age throughout the picture.  Characters that show up early in the lives of this family return later.  It's kind of amazing that the director Richard Linklater was able to pull that off.  The transitions through the years are handled very cleverly with none of that "3 years later" title card stuff.

The film is called Boyhood but it is really about a family.  The mother, father and sister have equally important roles although the focus is on viewing the family's life through the boy.  Ultimately the film ends on a hopeful note and I have a feeling that Richard Linklater will probably follow up on the lives of these characters in the future.

165 minutes.