Birdman: Washed Up Actors Excel at Being Washed Up

Hello everybody! For this week’s new movie show we watch Birdman.

BIRDMAN

DIRECTED: Alejandro González Iñárritu

STARRING: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts

GENRE: Black Comedy

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States

Riggan Thomas, once known quite well to movie theater goers as an iconic super hero called “The Birdman” had recently turned down a fourth installment of the franchise. Now washed up, he attempts to reinvent himself as a director by staging a new adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. The events leading up to the Saturday night premiere prove to be one disaster after another as the original lead actor is injured while on set and Riggan scrambles to find a replacement, but the replacement proves to be exactly who he needs – a method actor who takes the job way too seriously. But Riggan has a hard time juggling between the set, his replacement actor, his equally washed up daughter, and a host of other disasters that prevent a proper staging of the play. Meanwhile, a New York Times critic who Riggan has to woo threatens to shut down production of the play before it even starts with a scathing review of the opening night performance. Does Riggan have a hit on his hands or will he even make it past opening night?

Birdman definitely wasn’t what I expected. Maybe that is because when  first saw the trailer/ heard about the film, I thought it was actually a documentary and not a comedy. The one thing that I absolutely loved about Birdman is the editing and camera work. It is done so well, edited so closely together that it makes the film look like it was shot in one continuous take. I can understand that this was to give the illusion that our main character was being followed by paparazzi. Lastly, I want to point out that Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, and Edward Norton are all great in their roles. Superb, ladies and gents.

There isn’t much I didn’t like about Birdman. The pacing was relatively slow, as at some points I wish it would stop dragging. That feeling quickly passed me by, as yet another episode with the Birdman was going to occur. I did not like Zach Galifinakis in his role as friend and producer. I do want to acknowledge that you performed decently, especially since it is such a far role change from his more drunken comedic roles. I just wouldn’t have cast him in this film. Not this time.

PROS:

• Editing.
• Camerawork.
• Main cast performances.

CONS:

• Pacing.
• Zach Galifinakis casting.

SCORE: 8.8 / 10

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