Review of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Akashvijay — 18 Jan 2015

All credit to Lubezki for his stunning camera work and to all the actors for bringing their A game. But despite their best efforts Birdman doesn't work. So much of it feels self-consciously quirky and in many cases, downright sophomoric. The film's most embarrassing attempt at humour is when Mike (Edward Norton) describes an ageing theatre critic (Lindsay Duncan) as having a face that looks "like she just licked a homeless man's ass." Really? That’s what passes for funny these days?

But the biggest problem with the film is its utter superficiality and pretentiousness. Tackling everything from the challenge of living in the present in a post-as-it-happens world, to the struggles of modern-day parenting, to the uncomfortable compromises made for celebrity status, to the folly of critics who aren't "courageous" enough to offer the world anything but cynicism, this film is all over the map. Sadly not one theme is explored with a shred of depth. Same can be said for a lot of Inarritu's previous films (babel most notably). Birdman is ambitious but flawed and ultimately self-defeating.