Review of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Nick H — 15 Sep 2015

Full of in-jokes, cliches and self indulgence, Birdman is as pretentiously heavy handed as its jazz-drum soundtrack. Few critics have dared to be honest and nail this movie to the wall as the smugly self-important wank-fest that it is. There is an Emperor's New Clothes hype surrounding this film that I can't fathom. Maybe critics are too afraid of being labelled a vitriolic curmudgeon like Lindsay Duncan's character in the movie; a long since defunct pastiche of theatre critics. She is just one of the many clichés and stereotypes which litter this movie: the overpaid, narcissistic actor/director-on-the-edge; the over-burdened, neurotic manager; the brattish, rebellious daughter; the insecure, needy actresses and of course, the genius-but-impossible-to-work-with, method actor.

Even the clever in-jokes are over-played, like the casting of two actors embittered by their stints as superheroes to satirically act out their real-life reputations, Keaton famous for playing on-the-edge characters (Beetlejuice, Batman and Dream Team), Norton famous for being notoriously difficult to work with. I found it hard to stomach these actors, both of whom made super-rich by their trade, ironically riffing on the amount earned by RDJ for Iron Man, even as art imitating life, imitating art. We get it! Don't labour the point to absurdity. Hollywood is solely about the money and imaginatively bankrupt. We get it!

I am being a bit unfair, the casting and acting does redeem this film, as does the amazing cinematography, but as demonstrated by other actor-indulgent-films, like American Hustle last year, allowing actors to improvise does not necessarily make for realistic, gritty dialogue. It comes across as stilted, unfocused and self indulgent, just like this movie. It won one well deserved Oscar for Best Cinematography. Best Director, okay I can appreciate Alejandro González Iñárritu's vision and his talent at getting such performances from such notoriously difficult actors. Best Film? I don't think so, though not really surprising when looking at the narcissism of the voters, "Ooh look, a film all about me". That said, I am deeply appalled that such a hackneyed story, full of clichéd characters spouting unrealistic dialogue, could win Best Original Screenplay when compared to the other nominees. A travesty.