Birdman - Fails to soar or score!

Birdman - Fails to soar or score!

Cast - Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson (Birdman), Edward Norton as Mike Shiner, an acclaimed Broadway actor

Emma Stone as Sam Thomson, Riggan's daughter and assistant.Naomi Watts as Lesley, an actress and Mike's former girlfriend, Zach Galifianakis as Jake, Riggan's lawyer and friend, Andrea Riseborough as Laura, an actress and Riggan's girlfriend, Amy Ryan as Sylvia Thomson, Riggan's ex-wife, Sam's mother, Lindsay Duncan as Tabitha Dickinson, a top theatre critic, Merritt Wever as Annie, the stage manager

Jeremy Shamos as Ralph, Frank Ridley as Mr. Roth, Katherine O'Sullivan as Costume Assistant, Damian Young as Gabriel

& Crew - Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Screenplay: Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo

Premise - Former cinema superhero Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is mounting an ambitious Broadway production that he hopes will breathe new life into his stagnant career. It's risky, but he hopes that his creative gamble will prove that he's a real artist and not just a washed-up movie star. As opening night approaches, a castmate is injured, forcing Riggan to hire an actor (Edward Norton) who is guaranteed to shake things up. Meanwhile, Riggan must deal with his girlfriend, daughter and ex-wife. - Courtesy IMDB.

At times critics tend to find hidden complexities and nuances in a film which i am sure even the director never thought of or vaguely conceived. At other times most critics unable to understand the very premise of a film and probably not wanting to air their ignorance praise the film sky high! One such film at least in my opinion is this! Reading the rave reviews the viewers make a beeline to the theaters and not able to understand the film come out totally confused but here again not wanting to air their ignorance praise the film to all around them! This starts a rave ooh! aah! chain on Twitter, Facebook etc and finally not to be left out the film receives an award from the high and mighty of the industry and finally bags the Oscars! Honestly in my opinion I simply fail to understand the purpose of making a film like the 'BIRDMAN'. 

The film is all about (Micheal keaton) an yesteryear actor who used to play the part of a popular superhero the birdman. Finally he quits when he realises that he has immense acting potential and talent and becomes a broadway theatre artiste with the help of his friend and producer to showcase his acting talent to the whole wide world. The film is based on a surreal premise. It tells a story of the hero's eternal conflict between real and the unreal. The complexities of being a Broadway actor, his trials and tribulations. His relationship with his ex wife, daughter and his fellow actors. His constant quest to get the headlines, his disconnect with today's social networking like Facebook, twitter, etc. His love life with a sprinkle of todays burning topics like gays and lesbians etc. It is a constant fight between the hero and his alter (conscience/mind voice). It makes you wonder whether the hero and/or the director are suffering from delusions, schizophrenia or both! 

Let me quote a few famous lines which received the ooh's!, the aah's! and the aah! aah's! and impressed the critics and the viewers alike-

"I'm nothing. I'm not even here."

Mike: Do you see that lady who looks like she licked a homeless mans ass?

Lesley: He tried to fuck me in front of the entire audience.

Jake: Get that smile off your face, you're freaking me out.

Mike:Leslie, play with my balls.

Sam: What's so funny?

Riggan: I can't smell it.

Riggan: Look, you're beautiful and you're talented. And I'm lucky to have you.

Lesley: When I dreamed of Broadway, I never pictured the elk antlers.

Riggan: I'm nothing. I'm not even here.

Riggan: Listen to me. I'm trying to do something important.

Sam:This is not important.

Riggan: It's important to me! Alright? Maybe not to you, or your cynical friends whose only ambition is to go viral. But to me... To me... this is - God. This is my career, this is my chance to do some work that actually means something.

Sam: Means something to who? You had a career before the third comic book movie, before people began to forget who was inside the bird costume. You're doing a play based on a book that was written 60 years ago, for a thousand rich old white people whose only real concern is gonna be where they go to have their cake and coffee when it's over. And let's face it, Dad, it's not for the sake of art. It's because you want to feel relevant again. Well, there's a whole world out there where people fight to be relevant every day. And you act like it doesn't even exist! Things are happening in a place that you willfully ignore, a place that has already forgotten you. I mean, who are you? You hate bloggers. You make fun of Twitter. You don't even have a Facebook page. You're the one who doesn't exist. You're doing this because you're scared to death, like the rest of us, that you don't matter. And you know what? You're right. You don't. It's not important. You're not important. Get used to it.

Sam: Dad..

Mike: Does she speak?

Sam: She does. Yeah, she can sit, stay, and roll over if you have any treats.

Jake: Oh my gosh! How do you know Mike Shiner?

Lesley:We share a vagina.

Riggan: People, they love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit.

Riggan: Shave off that pathetic goatee. Get some surgery. Sixty's the new thirty, motherfucker!

Mike: Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.

Lesley:I wish I had more self-respect.

Laura:You're an actress.

Honestly I found nothing extraordinary in this film except for the camera work without which it would have been so boring i would probably have gone to sleep somewhere down the line while watching this film. Regarding the actors - Yeah! they did a pretty decent job. So! Should they get a standing ovation. Go and ask the director! I don't think even in his wildest of dreams he ever thought that his film would bag an award leave alone an OSCAR! 

If you like the quotes go watch the film!

Bottomline - zzzzzzz ! Good Night!

Finally a Quote - "One should first learn to stand before attempting to fly!"

My Rating - 2 plus .5 for cinematography Total 2.5/5

Until Next Time,

Director Haricharan

25/2/2015