Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelai Linklater, Marco Perella, Brad Hawkins
Directed By: Richard Linklater

I absolutely loved what Linklater did with Boyhood. Actually filming a film over 12 years, allowing the children to grow into their roles instead of casting older people who simply look like the younger versions of themselves. It’s a neat trick, and one that Boyhood will be remembered for. However, I have to be honest… this is not going to be a review about how Boyhood is the best picture of the year. Is it innovative? Definitely. Is it pretty freaking amazing? Certainly. The best? No. And here’s why…

A lot of the supporting cast seem to have been pulled off the street and given some lines to read. Outside of the core four characters, the rest of the cast is very hit and miss. If you keep one of them too long, you really see how bad they are. Marco Perella? He’s awful. He needed some more coaching. Sure, maybe Linklater wants to go for realism, but Arquette is clearly acting, while Perella stumbles through his lines and his part.

Really, that’s my big hangup is Linklater should have spent a little bit more time surrounding his core four with better actors. They bring down the scenes they’re in. Otherwise, yeah, Boyhood is a great movie, and a historic effort in film. It’s a rare effort where I actually wouldn’t complain about the runtime, because every moment is necessary to see the slow aging of Coltrane. But I can’t overlook some really awful acting. I still think everyone should watch this, but beware Marco Perella…

I would spend more time writing in depth about the film, but it’s already been out for a few months. I was late to the party.

FINAL GRADE: A-