Birdman tells a powerful story about a has been, washed up actor who was renown as a super hero called The Birdman. Michael Keaton (The Birdman/Riggan Thomas) played the heck out of this role. Riggan, a father and divorcee is feeling the pain of age and abandonment of a once robust and exciting crowd, known as his world, and so decides to show the world that after 20 years, he’s not washed up but a big time Broadway theater director putting on a play of the short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” that was written over 60 years ago. Everything was going south, mostly because he hadn’t cast a good enough actor in the lead role. In comes Ed Norton, who saves the day with his super talented acting abilities. Of course, extraordinary comes with a price. Between Riggen’s screw-up of a daughter (Sam) played by Emma Stone, the critic (Tabitha) played by Lindsay Duncan, who could render his play it’s doomsday exit on the very first day and Ed Norton’s shenanigans, Riggan has his hands full — perhaps more full than he can handle. Birdman is an extremely well acted movie with a touch of crazy that makes for an entertaining day at the cinema. Naomi Watts (Lesley) gave a brilliant performance as the love interest for Ed Norton and the lead actress in the play. I don’t want to reveal anything that would be considered a spoiler so I’ll just say the ending was my only pet peeve. Things were not clear enough for me but I loved that I could use my imagination. It’s possible that Birdman could get an Oscar nod. Since this movie has flown under the radar, it’ll be out on DVD soon. Pick it up and see what I’m talking about — it’s worth your time.
[BIRDMAN is nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Sound Editing, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay (writing)]
CAROL's WORLDS 