Review of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Rebecca M — 01 Aug 2015

To be honest, Birdman didn't register with me like it seemed to have with practically everyone else. Yes, there are two exceptional performances and there are some technically impressive shots, but I found this film to be more of a chore than anything.

Birdman follows a washed up Hollywood actor who is preparing to make is debut on stage. For starters, Michael Keaton and Emma Stone are fantastic, with Keaton being the absolute best that he's been in years.

I've read a lot of praise for Edward Norton, but I didn't really see all too much that stood out from his usual performances. On the technical side of things, the long takes are quite impressive.

Getting these scenes to play out properly couldn't have been an easy task, but they play out smoothly. Story wise, there really isn't much here besides Keaton's redemption, and even that gets rushed towards the end.

The film just seems to plod along and bounce from side plot to side plot. The pacing is also another issue, despite being a decent two hours, the first half of the film feels like it drags on. By the time the credits roll, I didn't feel like I witnessed anything special outside of two fantastic performances.