There's a lot to see and hear in BIRDMAN, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2014 comedy/drama destined to win multiple Academy Awards tonight.
Michael Keaton stars as actor Riggan Thompson. Riggan is most famous for having starred in the hugely successful superhero movie series Birdman back in the 90's. Keaton brings true weight to the role as the star of Tim Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns", a role he walked away from after the first two films, while the series moved on and remained huge without him.
Riggan has invested every dollar and every speck of creativity, passion and artistic credibility he has on a stage adaption of a Raymond Carver novel.
Birdman chronicles the tumultuous weeks before the play opens on Broadway.
Edward Norton is terrific as Mike, a star brought in at the last minute that can help sell seats but comes carrying a huge ego with him. His clashes with Riggan are epic and hilarious.
Emma Stone plays Riggan's daughter, fresh out of rehab and playing assistant to the production while wrestling with a lot of family issues. Stone is one of the best things in the film, harsh, tough and real.
Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Amy Ryan are all very strong as well in supporting roles.
The entire movie is brilliantly staged, with a camera that never stops moving in ten+ minute chunks of long takes, in which the actors all performed everything in sequence as you see it live, no cuts, no editing. It was a demanding shoot driven by Inarritu's vision and it adds real power to the film.
Michael Keaton soars above everything in a great performance that should win the Best Actor Academy Award tonight. As Riggan steps in and out of reality and we experience his doubts and the voices in his head along with him, Keaton grounds the film in a vanity free, powerful performance.
So....all those praises having been said. Did I enjoy the movie?
Tough to say.
The music score, which is 90% just a jazz drummer riffing through the scenes, is horribly annoying.
I admired the craft and choreography of the camera, the performances by the entire cast and the way that Riggan's surreal visions kept merging with reality.
But while there is plenty to see and hear in the film, I didn't find there was much to truly FEEL. I admired it to be sure, but for me, BIRDMAN never really leaves the ground. It left me cold.
I'll give it a B-.
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