Director Alejandro González Iñárritu has made some emotionally heavy films, such as “Biutiful” and his “Death" trilogy, which consists of “Amores Perros,” “21 Grams” and “Babel.” There’s a grim nature that runs throughout these movies, but the way he films that grimness shows how Iñárritu can find something meaningful to say, even in the harshest of situations. With the projects he’s done in the past, his latest filmmaking accomplishment is something that comes as a surprise.
Iñárritu decides to bring us something insanely different with his dark comedy, “Birdman.” In a film that displays show business from several different angles with touches of satire, he has made one of the best comedies of the year, as well as one of the best films of the year.
Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a washed-up Hollywood actor who gained his fame by playing a superhero called Birdman for three movies. Now trying to be taken seriously in the entertainment industry, he decides to write, direct and star in a Broadway-play adaptation of Raymond Carver’s short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." Wanting to get an esteemed Broadway actor to perform one of the other lead roles, Thomson brings in the highly demanding Mike Shiner (Edward Norton). Aside from these two egos butting heads, Riggan must also deal with family issues, while also having to come to terms with the possibility of no longer being famous in the eyes of the public.
Michael Keaton delivers an enjoyably strange performance. It’s an accomplishment that’s terrifically suited for the humorously bizarre nature of the story, and the voice of his Birdman persona in his head adds a duel between the two personalities that drives the comical side of the story. Keaton’s portrayal of a struggling actor trying to revamp his popularity is every bit as funny as it is sad. In the scenes he shares with his daughter and wife, we can see that, despite being firm about bringing his career back to life, he still cares deeply about his family.
Edward Norton is wonderfully funny as an insanely committed actor who comes in as a replacement for one of the play’s leads. It’s outrageous fun to see how far he will go to give the most honest performance he can, and he comically displays his character as a nightmare to work with.
The supporting cast includes Emma Stone as Riggan’s just-out-of-rehab daughter, who gives a searing monologue to her father on his irrelevance; Naomi Watts, whose character is at hilarious odds with Norton; Zach Galifianakis, who plays a refreshingly against-type role as Riggan’s lawyer and best friend; Lindsay Duncan as an unreasonably harsh theater critic; and Amy Ryan as Riggan’s warmhearted ex-wife.
The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is made to look as though the whole movie is shot in one long take. Although you can pretty much tell where the editing was done, that doesn’t make the camerawork any less stunning.
The screenplay by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo is endless with its laugh-inducing character interactions, especially those involving Keaton and Norton. The childish, physical fight between the two is one of the funniest parts of the movie, and is also one of the ways that the film presents its clash between a Hollywood actor and a Broadway actor.
There is also a noticeable parallel between the character of Riggan and Keaton himself because they both gained much of their popularity by starring in superhero movies, with Riggan portraying Birdman and Keaton portraying Batman. Seeing as the film is fictional, but includes some references to the Hollywood of today, it makes sense that the story has you think of a real-life actor and his similarity to the character he plays.
Iñárritu also crafts a very clever ending for the movie, and the ambiguous nature of it has the potential to spark some fun debates.
As a director, Iñárritu shows a new skill in handling comedy, and also displays some talent with special effects as well, which is shown in one of Riggan’s daydream sequences.
“Birdman” is another example that Iñárritu is a dependable source of ingenuity in cinema, which is evidenced by the fact that he worked with original screenplays for all five of his feature films. This movie comes four years after Iñárritu’s last project, “Biutiful,” and hopefully, we don’t have to wait through another lengthy gap like that for his next movie because Hollywood needs more stories from an inventive filmmaker such as him.
Final grade: A
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