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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
USA 2014
produced by
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, Molly Conners (executive), Sarah E. Johnson (executive), Christopher Woodrow (executive) for Regency, M Productions, Grisbi Productions, TSG Entertainment, Worldview Entertainment
directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Shamos, Andrea RiseboroughDamian Young, Keenan Shimizu, Natalie Gold, Merritt Wever, Michael Siberry, Clark Middleton, Amy Ryan, Jamahl Garrison-Lowe, William Youmans, Kenny Chin, Katherine O'Sullivan, Akira Ito, Warren Kelley, Joel Marsh Garland, Catherine Peppers, Frank Ridley, Janis Corsair, Rakesh Shah, Bill Camp, Malachi Weir, Jackie Hoffman, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Glenn Wein, Ebrahim Jaffer, Rain Noe, Susan Blackwell, Anna Hardwick, Dusan Dukic, Helena-Alexis Seymour, Ian Finlay
screenplay by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, play within the film based on the story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver, music by Antonio Sanchez
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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20 years ago, Riggan (Michael Keaton) was a big success in a trio of
superhero movies about the Birdman - but now he's a washed-up
has-been who tries to make a comeback on Broadway, as writer, director and
star of an adaptation of a story by Raymond Carver - but the first
preview's tomorrow, and one of the actors is knocked out by a falling
stage light ... which might actually be a good thing, as through Lesley
(Naomi Watts), one of the stars in the play, he gets his hands on her
boyfriend, Broadway star Mike (Edward Norton), who's ready and willing to
help out and who knows the play already, reading it with Lesley hundreds
of times - and his name alone sells tickets. So the day is saved? The day
maybe, but not the play, as Mike, brilliant as he is on stage, is an
all-around asshole, a drinker, and causes tons of problems, problems
Riggan doesn't need, as not only is it upon him to put on the play, he
also has to take care of his daughter Sam (Emma Stone), who has come out
of rehab only recently and is now supposed to work for him, he has to get
hold of his own alcoholism, has to make friends with the most ruthless
critic of NYC (Lindsay Duncan), and then there's this voice that speaks to
him, Birdman, who questions what he does in the least opportune moments.
So everything points to complete failure ...
Zach Galifianakis plays Riggan's lawyer and agent. Even though (other
than a dream sequence) the film appears to be shot in one take, director Iñárritu
in later interviews readily admitted that they cheated quite a bit, and
some edits are quite obvious for the trained eye, others apparently not.
That said, despite the great camerawork to make the one-take approach
cinematic rather than just a technical accomplishment, that novelty wears
off pretty quickly - to leave one with an excellent film: The story is
great, as it unites comedy and high drama in a completely believable and
relatable way, and it has depth to it, the dialogue's sharp and on the
point, the direction very energetic while trying to not attract too much
attention to itself, the drum score by Antonio Sanchez is rather
brilliant, and the actors are first rate throughout. A film that actually
deserves every Oscar it got, and not many do that!
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