Boyhood / YMMV - TV Tropes

Award Snub:
- No amount of critical praise could keep this film from losing to Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), its main, equally acclaimed opponent for Best Picture in 2014.
- Despite all of the press and praise for Richard Linklater's work, he ended up losing all three categories that he was up for.
Base-Breaking Character: Mason is a somewhat divisive protagonist. Some find him interesting and likable, others believes he's a dull jerk. He's generally well liked in his earlier years, it's around when he gets a new attitude in his teens that the divide starts.
Dancing Bear: Early on, a lot of people went to see the movie simply because it was filmed over the course of twelve years with the same cast. After that, people went to see the movie for all the praise it had received.
Ending Fatigue: A common complaint of the film is that it takes a while to end. As soon as Mason converses with his mother (one ending), he drives off to start a new life (another possible ending), meets people in college, and doesn't end until he sits down and talks with his new friend. That's three possible endings, adding an extra twenty minutes to the runtime.
Fanon: Some fans like the idea of the Nicole in the ending scene being the same Nicole who tells Mason his haircut is cute back in elementary school - as a form of Book Ends. They're played by different actresses, but look similar enough that they could be the same person.
Fans Prefer the New Her: Ellar Coltrane himself preferred Mason's buzzcut - despite it being unwanted in-universe - as he hated having to grow his hair out for the scenes.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Mason's conversation with his Dad about the possibility of another Star Wars movie (filmed sometime around 2007-2008), saying that in the unlikely event of another movie, it couldn't be set after Return of the Jedi. The year before the film finished shooting, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was announced, and news that it would be set decades after Return Of The Jedi followed. Even more amusingly, Disney/Lucasfilm went on to release Rogue One, which was indeed set between the original trilogy and the prequels, just as Mason predicted.
Hype Backlash: As is expected for something with unanimous acclaim, this movie has attracted some very vocal detractors, claiming it to be boring, suggesting that Ellar Coltrane is not a good actor (and quite a few of the child stars for that matter), and most of all, that the movie wouldn't have been as acclaimed if it were not for the central device in which it was filmed (that is, over the course of twelve years so that the characters literally grow up in front of our eyes, rather than being played by Time-Shifted Actors).
Just Here for Godzilla: Though the film is Mason's Coming of Age Story, his parents Olivia and Mason Sr. often draw people's attention instead.
Padding: Being a Coming of Age film simply documenting a child's life into young adulthood, this can mostly be forgiven, though there are some scenes that seem to either go on for to long or don't amount to anything.
- This is a bizarre case where, despite already being a long movie, a lot of scenes either lack payoffs or causes. It seems like there are quite a few scenes missing that would've provided context.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Despite being a movie about the growth of a young boy into a young adult, there are little to no points in the movie where any of the main characters reflect on or refer to events that happened beforehand, which could have further contributed to Mason's character development.
Tough Act to Follow: The critical acclaim and awards success of Boyhood may have affected the box office take of Richard Linklater's next film Everybody Wants Some!!.
Vanilla Protagonist: Several viewers have claimed that the main character isn't all that interesting, with common consensus even among those that do like Mason being that his parents stole the show from him.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Some may understandably believe that the film is for kids. It's about a boy who grows to become a teenager! It isn't, though. It features a lot of swearing, sex references, drug use and more, so it's certainly not for kids. Rated R for a reason.
What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: In one scene, the kids' father had them out ringing doorbells for Obama, who was still a candidate at the time, but was later elected president. The lone McCain supporter they encounter comes off as a possibly racist jerk, which has been taken as political swipe. On the other hand, the lone Obama supporter they encounter comes off as a bit of an airhead, and their dad, who's driving this trip, is a flake who thinks nothing of stealing McCain yard signs. So it can really be taken either way.

YMMV / Boyhood

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