As you know, Richard Linklater has been crafting “Boyhood” for 12 years. He and Ethan Hawke started filming this thing the year before they made “Before Sunset.” It has been, in so many words, a long time coming.
It's easily one of my most anticipated films this year. Linklater is on another level lately, and he's making it look easy. Making films as ambitious as the “Before” trilogy and this look easy is like some magic trick. He is a modern master of the form, a filmmaker who digs deeper to find humanist fissures in his work, and I just can't wait to finally see this thing. Ever since it debuted at Sundance, the reaction has been pretty much universal acclaim.
As “Boyhood” prepares for a summer release counter programmed against the usual onslaught, a trailer has hit this week and it's kind of perfect. As someone who really wants to see this story unfold, who wants to watch actor Ellar Coltrane literally grow up on screen, I'm wary of dousing that magic. But the trailer does a good job of mostly leaning on the younger years and not giving away too much of whatever life-long arc is lurking in the overall film. That had to be a tough balance to strike.
Check out the trailer embedded at the top of this post. “Boyhood” hits theaters July 11.