"Boyhood" For Best Picture

I am quite certain I speak in hyperbole.

But I’ll go out on a limb and say, I am glad I lived long enough to watch “Boyhood.”

Directed by Richard Linklater, this is a 12 year ordeal. With that in mind, it adds another level to an already story of a family through life as a child to eventually leaving. Along the way, we get glimpses of their family through ups and downs. Ordinarily, these types of movies draw a big sigh and an eye roll from me. But this movie is extraordinary. Imagine where you were 12 years ago. Then you wonder whether or not you would have a consistency in life (let alone acting) that could carry you through the messes that life does throw you. This movie was able to really weave that amazing gap.

It was literally impossible to move from this movie. Without a single explosion or gun play, this movie held onto your attention and does not let up. At any point of this ordeal, the whole project could’ve went bust. It is an absolute accomplishment it saw its way through. Let me give you an example. EVERY single movie that “shoots only on weekends” for weeks into months, I’ve never seen completed. EVER. I’ve been on about ten different projects where this was the case. People get busy. People get bored. People get lives. This was 12 FUCKING years. I still can’t believe it.

Okay, so what is it about this movie that got to me. It’s about family. Linklater has tapped into a universal truth about relationships within each other. And that is, we all will struggle with each other. Dependent on whom we choose, people change and jump in and out of your life. Will they leave an imprint. Possibly. For the most part, it is but another experience in life. We log everything in and accept ups and downs. That’s life. We find love. We lose love. We get philosophical about life. We find truth. Our parents try so very hard, but they too also change in life. And we lose touch with their personal lives until they get to a point where they don’t know anymore what purpose they have themselves when we’re adults. This cuts so deep to the core. Especially as these are moments I lose with my own family. One day they're 8 the next they're 18. And I can’t relate to them. It’s heartbreaking.

I absolutely love this film. There probably won’t be anything this good for a very long time. It’s been a while since I felt anything. Numb to the world. But this intimate portrait really hit home. It really tapped into what it means to be a family. It’s not HUGE adventures, it’s small moments. While it may seem like talking head boring conversations, it isn’t. It is an true American movie.

I am also certain this is Best Picture to the extreme. If movies were to end and never be made again, I would say…Linklater hit the apex. There is no other movie. How’s that for hyperbole?