[Tom4784]

I re-watched this today.

It's a marvel of a film, the fact you see the actors grow up before your eyes is amazingly strange. It must have been a logistical nightmare to handle but I think that all that presumed hassle that the crew went through to make this film was worth it. It's very close to being a perfect film. Rewatching it did highlight some things for me that I wasn't keen on though, I felt like we knew the core family thoroughly but most of the other characters are basically throwaways, which is understandable as it'd be a nightmare to organise periods of filming over 12 years for actors other than the core family. Also I think some of the pop culture references were a little forced and clumsy, we could tell simply by looking at the actors that time had passed so we didn't need things like the small scene about Lady Gaga to mark the passing of time. It also does tend to drag near the end, I think they could have cut the last 10 minutes or so and the ending would have still had the same effect.

Aside from that (which is basically nitpicking anyway). It's damn near perfect. The acting is great and the story felt very authentic. It's a very well made film and an achievement. I do hope it get recognised during awards season.

9/10