Review of The Big Year (2011) by Paul G — 19 Jan 2012

If anybody can provide me with a reason why this movie was made, I'd appreciate hearing it. The only thing more surprising than there being a movie made about competitive bird watching (birding) is the cast the filmmakers assembled for it -- Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson! While they are not necessarily the biggest names in the comedy world of showbiz anymore -- having this trio cast in ANY movie is notable (let along one about birds).

Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me) gives us a story of three different men coming to terms with their lives (in three different stages of life) by criss-crossing the country over the course of a year to observe a wide variety of avian life (from rare-rare to common) in a bird-watching contest known as The Big Year.

Wilson (Cars, Wedding Crashers, Midnight in Paris) is the hot-shot winner of the competition from the previous year and Black (King Kong, Kung Fu Panda, The School of Rock) and Martin (Father of the Bride, It's Complicated, The Jerk) are casual-to-avid birdwatchers who dream of taking his title from him.

Flying here and there to catch a glimpse of a bird sets them all up for various adventures and encounters. Rashida Jones (The Social Network, Our Idiot Brother, The Muppets) is a fellow birdwatcher they meet on the road; Angelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums, 50/50, Ever After) is a boat captain they are all required to employ; and Dianne Wiest (Parenthood, Bullets Over Broadway, Rabbit Hole) and Brian Dennehy (Romeo + Juliet, First Blood, Ratatouille) play Jack Black's parents who have differeing opinions about their son taking-up (the pointless sport of) birdwatching so late in life.

By giving us the three characters and their three different lives, the movie hopes that it is providing a moral for the audience to follow ... but since the movie is "just kind of here" we don't get a whole lot out of it.

I'd hate to call it unnecessary and pointless but that is where I am at with it: "so what!?!" This isn't BAD by any means -- it aims at a purpose; but it doesn't achieve it because you feel so indifferent towards it.

It really is blah, blah, blah ...