Birdman - Review

A man becomes a critic when he cannot be an artist. - Gustav Flaubert - Spoken by Edward Norton's character Mike

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. 

Since the title is so long I will refer to the film solely as Birdman for the review. Birdman is a 2014 film that is up for many Oscars and is my prediction to take home the statue for Best Picture. 

Birdman is the story of Riggan played by Michael Keaton (Robocop, Batman) who is an aging actor who's played a major superhero in the past and is now trying his hand in a Broadway play. The cast is rounded out by Edward Norton (American History X), Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and Naomi Watts (King Kong). Birdman is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel). 

Let me start off by saying that this movie really is for film lovers, from the way it's shot to the plot, this was made to be watched by people who really love movies. The film is directed in a series of long takes or long shots which were helped made famous by Martin Scorcese. According to IMDB there are only 16 visible cuts in the entire film with the majority of the film being following shots. What the film really has going for it is the acting, these actors seemed to have all brought their A+ game and they all, for me, deserved their Oscar nominations. I'd go out and say that this is Emma Stone's best performance of her still young career and Edward Norton was unbelievably good as well. Birdman was actually unexpectedly funny, mostly due to Norton's character, Mike, who had some great one liners. The performances that Iñárritu was able to get out of this cast were fantastic; it was great to see Galifianakis in a role that's against his type and his character was more on the serious side and he was great in this role, albeit a much smaller role.

This is a film where there really isn't much bad to say about it because there's really nothing wrong with it. I can see the casual movie fan not really enjoying the style of the film because of the frequent long takes and the unique way the film looks; not only this but the movie itself is a commentary of the film industry and those within it so it may not resonate too well with casual viewers. The directing in the film is amazing, the acting is second to none, the story is alright, it's really the performances in front of and behind the camera that makes this movie special. If it weren't for Boyhood I think Iñárritu would've taken home the Oscar for Best Director, technically he still can since the ceremony hasn't happened, that being said I still stick by my predictions of Birdman winning Best Picture and Michael Keaton winning Best Actor.

I really enjoyed this movie, it's not my favorite of 2014, it possibly wouldn't have cracked my top 10 since 2014 was a great year for movies. I did appreciate the look into the behind the scenes of actors and how they are, more and less, outside of Hollywood. This is a movie that I think all big movie fans really should see, especially for someone who wants to get into filmmaking in any way. It's almost Tarantino-like where the movie has things in it that only big movie fans will pick up and it's really for the better.

Replay Value: 3/5, it's a movie I'd definitely watch again, I wanna see it at least one more time and I wouldn't be opposed if a friend wanted to watch because I think it would be a pretty good movie to watch with some friends. All of that being said, I don't know that I'd buy this on blu-ray, it's not a movie you just throw on just because, it's a movie to sit down and watch.

Rating: 4/5