Boyhood: To Manhood

Ellar Coltrane: 6-18 years old

No need for special effects makeup to age the characters in Richard Linklater's ambitious new movie. The characters aged naturally over the 12 years he filmed the flick.

It begins when Masson Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) is in first grade and wraps up when he's off to college. Ethan Hawke, as Masson Sr., Patricia Arquette, as mom, and Lorelei Linklater, as the sister (the filmmaker's daughter), are also on board for the dozen-year ride.

Critics adored the movie. But the Movie Slut was skeptical. So many films that breeze through time devolve into hackneyed historical stereotypes. She's happy to report that her doubts were unfounded.

It helps that mom and dad, divorced parents, are both interesting and messy, and able to bestow their children with unconditional love. And despite the absence of vehicular chases and gun violence, all 2 hours and forty minutes of this movie will have you glued to the screen.