Boyhood (2014)

This was probably my biggest movie letdown since Snowpiercer. Yes, it was ambitious, but I'm not really sure that matters when the result is rather limp. If this was made in the normal way -- with a standard shooting schedule rather than a decade-plus one, utilizing aging makeup and different actors for the kids -- would this be a compelling story? No. It’d be a poorly-acted slog.

The only point of interest was seeing these actors age before our eyes. But, given a choice, I’d prefer to be entertained rather than to witness an experiment which amounts to nothing more than snapshots of several different people. I have no quibble with Arquette and Hawke being nominated for their acting, however.

C