Movielogr

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Drama | Fantasy

Most recently watched by scottfinn, themarc, seanCduregger, DaNiedabaya, danhnguyen, archstanton43, CaptainBigTime, sensoria, lordofthemovies, GMOM65

Overview

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Rated R | Length 120 minutes

Actors

Michael Keaton | Emma Stone | Zach Galifianakis | Edward Norton | Andrea Riseborough | Amy Ryan | Naomi Watts | Lindsay Duncan | Merritt Wever | Jeremy Shamos | Damian Young | Bill Camp | Kenny Chin | Jamahl Garrison-Lowe | Katherine O'Sullivan | Keenan Shimizu | Akira Ito | Natalie Gold | Michael Siberry | Clark Middleton | William Youmans | Paula Pell | David Fierro | Hudson Flynn | Warren Kelley | Joel Garland | Brent Bateman | Donna Lynne Champlin | Valentino Musumeci | Taylor Schwencke | Craig muMs Grant | Kyle Knauf | Dave Neal | Kelly Southerland | Roberta Colindrez | Catherine Peppers | Frank Ridley | Janis Corsair | Rakesh G. Shah | Malachi Weir | Jackie Hoffman | Stephen Adly Guirgis | Glenn Wein | Ebrahim Jaffer | Rain Noe | Susan Blackwell | Anna Hardwick | Dušan Dukić | Helena-Alexis Seymour | Ian Finlay | Lynn Marocola | Paugh Shadow

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
11/01/2014Movie ScreenDigitalTheater8 stars
 

Viewing Notes

Often thought of BOYHOOD while viewing this; they have couple things in common. I admire and appreciate the process in making the film and the actors provide some stellar moments on screen. The comparisons end there because unlike BOYHOOD, BIRDMAN has a unique story told in a compelling way. There is almost no downtime in this movie which keeps you glued to drama.

I’m still undecided as to how I really feel about this movie because I’m not entirely sure I’m that vested in what transpires. It’s so dialogue heavy and it occasionally drags. The process itself in sewing together this amazing long takes also becomes distracting as I tended to focus on that more than the story.

The performances really are wonderful. Easily Keaton’s best role in years. Edward Norton is also terrific. Emma Stone delivers an emotional outburst in one scene that might be her best yet. One of my issues is with the dialogue which may just be another meta layer on top of the live play that is the focus of the movie. Most of the dialogue feels extra theatrical, like stage lines rather than what people would say in real life.

For now I think this is an exceptional movie. We’ll see how I feel on another viewing. But so much to chew on and mull over. I really forward to seeing the making-of and how they created all these sequences.

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