I had wanted to see this movie after I first heard about it months ago. The excitement that took over me when it finally arrived in my area after a lengthy wait was nothing short of a kid the day before Christmas. I have found in the past that my excitement some time leads to my disappointment, but Birdman in NO WAY upset me or let me down. Birdman captured my love of everything that is flawed with the arts of stage and screen, and for those who think they control the destiny of the world with the chance of a bad review. I didn’t know what to expect, but I left with such fulfillment, it was something I always hope to experience at the movies, and I finally experienced it again for the first time in over a year. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) did more than just grab my attention, it made me fall in love with movies and theater all over again.
Birdman begins with Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) sitting in a yoga pose with a voice-over going on talking about what he once was, and the washed up actor he has become trying to elevate his career with the high hopes of a successful transition from screen to stage after multiple years of living off of his name, and the character he made famous in the movies, Birdman. Taking place in the present, Birdman really packs a punch to see inside the mind of Riggan, and the ways he believe he actually controls more than he truly does. Riggan is watching his play slowly dissolve, and is getting little to no help from his Executive Producer, Attorney, and Best Friend Jake (Zach Galifianakis). Riggan fires one of the lead actors before even knowing who he can possibly get to replace with, and the previews begin in just a few hours. Fortunately Riggan cast an actress looking for her big break, Lesley (Naomi Watts), who expresses the interest of her boyfriend who is a very well known stage actor in New York, Mike Shiner (Ed Norton). Mike has a different style than Riggan, and on the first night of the preview, the two come to blows on stage. This leads to the very beginning of a rocky relationship that grows into something more by the end. The whole set-up of the basic plot is such a journey of understanding and growth of character in a short and funny amount of time. The way the script, actors, and movements continue to flow like you are watching an actual stage production is something that left me in awe as well.
Riggan has a very rough relationship with his daughter, Sam (Emma Stone), and the back and forth shows a very difficult relationship that has always been there. Sam is out of rehab, and working as an assistant to Riggan, making her life even more of a hell than she thought it could be. Sam soon develops a unique friendship, of sorts, with Mike. He doesn’t seem to care what anyone says or thinks of him, unless he’s on the stage; and Sam is just a lost girl trying to understand the world, and how to make her father see her for more than the person he always views her to be. This relationship comes across as strange, and different; but the relationship actually works on many levels. This is another one of the layers that makes Birdman work so well. Excellent character development, and the actors doing such a wonderful job with their performances as well. It’s fun to watch how each person has their own quirks, but they still find a way to relate to one other.
Riggan starts to day dream more regularly and even sees things around him that aren’t how things really are at all. The play, in every one of the few previews, has gone horribly wrong at one point or another. Mike continues to offer Riggan encouragement, while at the same time tearing him down. Mike works the stage, the press, and Riggan in a way that is most likely cringe-worthy, but Norton comes across in such a way that you understand why his character is actually doing these things. One scene that stuck with me the most is a scene in a bar close to the theater the play is being performed in, and Riggan walks up to New York Times Theater Critic (played by Lindsay Duncan), and lets lose a poignant diatribe about how awful some critics can be, and goes on to rip apart critics for believing they are bigger than the sum of the parts that gave them the “power” they believe they have. I wanted to applaud this part, because this is something I really take notice of when surrounded by other “critics”. This sent Birdman to the top of my list for 2014, thus far, and it hasn’t even gotten to the climax of the movie yet.
I was blown away by every aspect of Birdman. Movies are supposed to be an escape from reality, and Birdman does that and more. Birdman has wings that help take it above and beyond what has been done thus far. Michael Keaton was at his finest in the role of Riggan Thomas, and Ed Norton never ceases to amaze. The one thing I noticed when watching Birdman was how real to life the events seem to be. The characters seem to be written for each of the actors, and the way they come across really shows it as well. Birdman wasn’t afraid to make fun of everything going on right now, and it does a great job of it as well. Birdman has so many excellent qualities, and little to no flaws as far as I could tell, and Birdman became the best movie of 2014 for me, and one for the ages as well.
