The Case for a Birdemic

So Birdman was always going to be challenging.  A film that is loved by critics but mehed by audiences is bound to not be the easiest thing to watch.  Still, a film that stars Michael Keaton as a man living in the shadow of his former career as a superhero trying to reinvent himself on stage has a lot of levels (or should that be “is very meta”) from the get go.

 That meta-ness does not make the film easy to watch, especially with an occasionally very irritating and distracting percussion soundtrack beating its way through a lot of it.  Add on top of that Keaton’s flights perception of events and of how he influences the world, and some rather lengthy exchanges on many deep and meaningful things, and I have to say even I found the running time a trifle on the long side and found myself looking at my watch every so often.

Of course, I was hypnotised whenever Edward Norton and Emma Stone were on screen, not just because Emma Stone has eyes that are bigger than the size of her head or the eyes of anything on the Happy Tree Friends.  Both of these actors are engrossing in their portrayal of broken, tortured souls, Norton an actor who shines on the stage but is a bit of a dick off it, Stone as the Birdman’s daughter, trying to recover from a drug addiction by acting as her father’s PA.

Around the big three are other top notch performances, with Lindsay Duncan as the ball busting theatre critic, Zach Galifinakis acting against type and actually acting (surprised the hell out of me – I was impressed!) as the Birdman’s lawyer, and Naomi Watts playing a struggling actor yet again, though she doesn’t quite have the chance to shine as she did in the classic Mulholland Drive – but I digress.

The movie all progresses as if it was filmed in one long, uncut shot, though it is obvious with the time shifts and the like that the film is not uninterrupted.  We follow the cast as they weave through the narrow corridors of the theatre, out into the broader alleyways and streets of the New York theatre circuit outside.  Mainly, the film feels claustrophobic and tense, enhancing the feeling of trepidation the whole cast feel as they complete the final rehearsals before the grand opening of their new play. 

As much as I was occasionally distracted by some of the more lengthy (and drum heavy) scenes, I have to say I enjoyed most of the film.  Until the very end that is, when the resolution led to a few… well, lets just say it took a few turns I was not on board for it to take.  Flights of fancy and the imagination during the film, I could handle, but it all got laid on a bit thick at the end, and that I was not overly impressed by.

My companions were also a bit sceptical, but seemed more critical of the film than I.  It is not necessarily a film everyone will like off the bat, if at all.  Sure, we all acknowledged the brilliance of the film, the innovation (well, kind of) and the impressive performances, but it is one thing to appreciate everything a film like this brings to the table and presents, but its another thing to actually like it.

Verdict: Birdman is a challenging watch and probably a bit long at just around 2 hours running time.  Still, with some truly stupendous performances from the extraordinary cast, there is a lot to appreciate up on the screen and to enjoy, though perhaps not necessarily as a whole.  7 eggs out of 10.