It’s been quite some time since Boyhood released and there is a lot of talk about it. When I saw the trailer which claims of how the Director has made ‘Movie History’, I obviously had a lot of expectations but the comments below were mostly discouraging. I went ahead and saw the movie anyway. And yes, one has to agree that Richard Linklater has indeed made movie history by doing something no other director has – make a movie over 12 years to show how a six year old matures into an 18 year adult. But the story unfortunately is not very strong, so it makes the historic milestone for Linklater less spectacular than it could have been. And yet for all its weaknesses, you have to watch the movie once. I ll give you five strong/shallow reasons as to why!

  1. It starts with a Coldplay Song

The movie begins with a beautiful little boy (the protagonist) lying on the grass and staring at the sky while the background music strums the strings of nostalgia within you.

“Look at the stars, look how they shine for you and everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow”

If you do not start singing along too, then maybe this reason is not for you.

  1. It’s live metamorphosis on screen

You will never get to see this in any other movie, so you just have to watch it to see the little lost six year old growing into an adult. And it’s not just the kid, but also how their parents change over time and become different people. Here is a glimpse of the lead actor in the movie between ages 6-12. I won’t give it all away!

It’s the same kid from ages six to twelve
  1. For the ‘cool little treasures’ it offers

The movie is obviously very long, but like Linklator said in an interview, the movie has a lot of ‘cool little treasures’ to offer. There has to be at least two to three scenes in the movie that everybody will identify with. Like the scene where the kid’s step-grandma gifts him a bible, reminds you of the time when you were expecting a cool action figure for a gift but unwrap it to find a science encyclopedia.

Or the scene where Ethan Hawke who plays the father of the kids in the movie discusses safe sex with the youngsters and they cringe in embarrassment. It makes you remember all the awkward conversations you were forced to have with your parents. Or well it works vice versa – if you are a parent, you remember the time you finally decided to ‘do the talk’ with your kids.

The ‘this is so awkward, can we not have this conversation’ face, where you wish you could disappear!

    4. They jam to Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish you were here’

That is another moment in the movie, where if you are a Pink Floyd fan, you will light up and start singing along with the characters in the movie.

“How I wish, how I wish you were here. We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year”.

And throughout the movie there are these brief little jam sessions that are very touching and carry the story forward. The most touching being the one which Ethan Hawke composes for his kids.

  1. It’s simple, flawed and heartfelt

This is the very reason many people did not like the movie, because it is too simple, with no great new plot. But it is also the same reason a lot of others would like it. The movie is not an escape from reality, it is a mirror to it. So obviously all the fantasy fans will be in for major disappointment. But for the rest of us, it’s a trip down memory lane. It’s about the highs and lows of life, of failed relationships, of mistakes, regret, growing up and moving on.

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