Report Card---"Boyhood"

"Boyhood"'s gimmick of taking a dozen years to shoot it, with the same actors, all aging a dozen years, is just that: a gimmick.
The three hours I spent watching it felt like a dozen years.
There was no story of note being told.
It seemed totally aimless.
As if the director shot twelve years of film, perhaps without a script, and then tried to figure out how to make a movie out of it.
I don't think he succeeded.
The young boy, who was the lead actor, was a complete cipher.
Totally uninteresting.

On to the scoring:

Is it interesting?

Almost never, except for seeing Patricia Arquette age a dozen years. There was one character, who appeared for about a half-
hour in the middle, and then vanished, who was VERY interesting. I kept rooting for him to come back, but he never did.
C-.

Compelling even?

Only for the above mentioned half-hour.
B-.

Is it controversial?

No.
F.

Is it a story worth telling?

There WAS no story.
F.

Is it good storytelling?

It is NO storytelling.
F.

Is it well written?

It doesn't appear to have BEEN written.
F.

Is it well cast? Well played?

Patricia Arquette was very good. And she convinced me that she was getting older. Same with Ethan Hawke.
Otherwise, the casting was mostly uninspired.
B.

Well shot?

Nothing special
B-.

Is it too long? Too short?

About two-and-a-half hours too long.
D+.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?

I can certainly believe that many lives are boring. I don't need to see it.
I didn't care about these folks.
F.

Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?

I was starting to predict that it would never end. I was surprised when it DID end so unimaginatively.
F.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

I wasn't thinking about it WHILE I saw it.
F.

Is it funny?

Not at all.
F.

Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?

I could make some snotty joke like "Maybe if you paid a dollar a year", but it wouldn't be worth that much.
F

Is it impressive?

Only in how much the director has fooled the public with this one.
F.

Overall grade: D.

That this can win for Best Picture truly scares the hell out of me.


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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.
So this is the only way you can find them.
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not
e-books. But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one. If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.

And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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