MovieChat Forums > Boyhood (2014) Discussion > Typical Linklater film

Typical Linklater film

posted 2 years ago by Ed (526)
2 replies | jump to latest

Most of the director’s films tend to be these vaguely scripted stories that don’t really seem to say anything. They have this stream-of-consciousness, splice of life mentality.

Boyhood follows this style, as it traces various events in the life of a Texas boy as he ages. There’s really no plot, there is just life and getting by. It is unusual in that the story essentially unfolds in real time - the actors all really age and change over the course of its nearly 3 hour run time. I think the film took around 10 years, give ot take, to make!

It is a style that takes getting used to. I personally love his films, even the first one (it was included in the Criterion release of Slacker). The Before Sunrise trilogy is amazing, and I love Dazed and Confused.

I think Linklater captures the essence of American culture better than most filmmakers today. And he does it consistently.

Tired of CGI or superhero or zombie content? Try Boyhood, for starters. It’s good, and Patricia Arquette deserved her Oscar.

[–] daveyh (632) 2 years ago

The mentioning of 'starting a band to attract women' is like Richard Linklater's trademark. It's mentioned twice here, just to be on the safe side.
Pink mentions it at the beginning of Dazed and Confused.
I'd have to watch Before....again, but I've got a feeling that, in Sunrise, Jesse mentions being in a band at some point.
School of Rock, well, the whole thing's about being in a band.
Although I don't think they say it in Everybody Wants Some, there's certainly a whole conversation about how being on the baseball team helps separate them from the herd in terms of getting noticed by girls, exactly like Mason Sr's fatherly advice at the end of this one.

[–] daveyh (632) 2 years ago

ah OK just watched Before Sunrise again. Jesse says he's more interested in excelling at something than finding love. Still it's pretty much the advice the same actor gives to Mason at the end of Boyhood!