[Movie Review] Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Writers: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Runtime: 119 min
Main Cast:
- Michael Keaton as Riggan
- Emma Stone as Sam
- Zach Galifianakis as Jake
- Naomi Watts as Lesley
- Edward Norton as Mike
Review: by The Superior Spider-Sam
From the first trailers, I knew that I wanted and needed to see Michael Keaton become a crazy superhero all over again.
What I Didn’t Like:
I figured I’d switch it up and start with this since it’s not too much. Also, it’s not really what I didn’t like, but what I see as unlikeable about the movie. Basically, this movie is different.
As a satire, you will not see a typical story with a beginning, build up, climax, and ending. It’s a satire about the acting industry, full of dark humor and no real focus on a single plot device that drives the story forward.
This will turn some people off to the movie. I am extremely aware of that and I fully understand those people who may not see this as their cup of tea. If you’re not a fan of satire or you don’t enjoy traditional films, this movie is not for you, and that is okay.
What I Liked:
The film follows a former movie star (Keaton) as he tries to make the transition to write, direct, and star in a Broadway production. As a “Hollywood” actor, not much faith is placed in him to make the jump to “true artist” of the stage, and he knows it all too well. Michael Keaton plays that role with excellence. His character Riggan Thomson is depressed and down on his luck (mostly his own doing) and sees this play as his way back into relevance after leaving his successful action film franchise, Birdman.
What makes things so much more difficult for him is the fact that he can actually hear Birdman as an inner voice telling him how no one cares about theater and that he needs to go back to blowing stuff up in action movies. That’s what people want and that’s what people will pay for.
Hearing Keaton’s inner Birdman and seeing him externally try to fight it is a delight. He becomes eccentric and volatile as he feels “a miniature version of himself follows with a tiny hammer that’s constantly hitting him in the balls.” Whether dealing with his neglected daughter Sam (Emma Stone), his girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough), or his partner Jake (Zach Galifianakis), we see Riggan try to juggle it all while dealing with hilarious setback after setback on his play, and Keaton acts his butt off to entertain us.
While the cast as a whole did well (with no one slacking in the least), I feel Edward Norton deserves more praise than others with the exception of Keaton. Norton plays the incredible Broadway actor Mike Shiner who came into the play last minute to replace a lead actor. He is obnoxious, full of himself, a little crazy, and absolutely loveable. He, as he puts it, lives for acting. He is more alive on stage than he is off-stage, and this is apparent. His and Keaton’s interactions make for some of the film’s funniest. For example, there’s a scene in which Mike (Norton) actually breaks character and fights with Riggan (Keaton) on stage, all because the alcohol in his cup wasn’t authentic. Another scene involves a fist fight backstage with Mike only in his underwear. Mike Shiner’s craziness makes for a fun watch and Edward Norton delivers big time.
I really enjoyed the satire. It was quite entertaining to see actors making fun of actors. It was also very accurate, in my opinion, in giving off the message that if you add dragons and explosions, the masses will watch anything. In addition, there are PLENTY of one-liners that are truly laugh out loud funny.
This movie should be in the running for an Oscar when it comes to cinematography. This movie was shot largely with steady-cam, meaning an individual was actually holding the camera rather than sitting the camera down on a support device (like a tri-pod). This led to some very interesting shots where it felt like we were literally on the back of a character as he/she walked down a narrow hallway. In addition, this movie did not use fades or jump cuts when changing scenes, which is against traditional norms. Instead of jumping immediately from one scene to the next as most of us are used to, the camera would turn and we’d hear a faint clock ticking in the background to signify time had passed. We may see Mike Shiner in a screaming contest on stage, the camera zooms out and turns right towards the front of the theatre, then we hear the ticking of a clock and Mike Shiner is now talking to a different individual in a much calmer manner. I thought it was an interesting technique and definitely deserves recognition.
Summary
The choice to see Birdman is easy based on your taste. If you like satire films, think you might like them, or even are just considering giving one a try, GO WATCH THIS. If you have decided that satire is not your thing, stay away.
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
