Reviewing Movies

Most actors commit themselves to a 3-6 month shoot with the possibility of the need for scenes to be reshot. The principals in this movie made a twelve-year commitment to a recurrent project. Seemlessly we see Ellar Coltrane grow from a 5-year-old to 18-year-old manhood college-bound. The others who follow Mason on this journey are the actors who play his Mother, his sister, and Ethan Hawke who plays his biological Father. We see hair styles change, limbs lengthen until ‘mother’ looks up at son, beards and moustaches come and go and hair show signs of greying.

Intelligence is no guarantee of wise decisions and Mason watches mom marry and divorce three husbands resulting in too many moves to count. Where his Father is concerned the child is father of the man. Though a recurring presence in Maaon’a life the child who fathered a son remains very much a dilettante throughout. Mother’s and Sister’s growth are not neglected. These characters are more than props. An interesting sociological study, a decent movie. I probably need to watch it again. The DVD provides no extras and the previews are execrable.