Brilliance because it's different --is good enough Writer/Director, Richard Linklater, again applies his artistic style of keeping every scene real to every day life, with plenty of real humor, real feelings, real drama mixed in, allowing you to attach yourself to the experience of watching this film unlike no other, entertained NO LESS, as any level of tears and laughter you experience will prove that. It leaves you with plenty to think about, as the dialog itself is styled in the director's trademark of providing the characters engaged in insightful or philosophical topics --this brings about the experience of walking out of his movies drawing your own conclusions. As to how much enrichment you wish to take from Linklater's movies, it's up to you -- but no doubt, you WILL feel and you WILL take something --- hence, the beauty of his films.
Best compliment: As long as this movie is, at 2 hours 45 minutes, it could have been even longer and Richard Linklater's movies will still keep you interested.
Worst thing to say about it: It's a movie that shows the process of growing up, sure, but chosen from a viewpoint of a family struggling with very specific issues, as if that is the "typical" presentation of a family, I don't think so. But perhaps if a more common family had been chosen, that doesn't have alcohol, drugs and divorce issues to contend with, the mass movie goers might find that boring to watch, I don't know?
The stand-out brilliance of this film is it's pioneering approach of 12-years of filming a single movie! Amazing. And great to watch, just for that alone.
The performances of Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette (playing the role of the parents) are excellent. These two steal every scene, and award worthy for ANY award-giving institutions out there --including Oscar.
The main character of Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, with a project like this, could have had the production team faced with an older actor later on who might not have had the talent to act as a teenager (little could they be sure of this at the start of such a lengthy project) but he can act. His performance actually improves with age --leaving you liking the character even more by the end of the film.
All I can ask is what original work do you have planned next, Linklater? Because, like your Before Sunrise series, A Scanner Darkly and other one-of-a-kind original movies, I very much look forward to your next project. I sense a lifetime achievement award for this director's film making. Those filmmakers of the likes of Woody Allen have NOTHING on this guy.