Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Starring;
Michael Keaton
Emma Stone
Naomi Watts
Edward Norton
Andrea Riseborough
Zach Galifianakis
Amy Ryan

Director;
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

In three words; Special - Unique - Brilliant

Review;
Riggan Thomson (Keaton) is an actor struggling to cope with his dwindling career, his family life and his ego. He has had a successful screen career which has seen his superhero films make millions yet he has found this completely unfulfilling. He has therefore decided to take a step in a different direction by writing, directing and starring in a stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story What we talk about when we talk about love.

A theatre has been secured, the cast and crew are in place yet Riggan has little faith in the abilities of one of his actors and is desperate for a last minute cast change, much to the annoyance of Jake (Galifianakis) who is desperately trying to keep the show running before the curtain has even been raised. After an avoidable accident the actor has to be replaced, in steps method actor Mike Shiner (Norton) he is in a relationship with Lesley (Watts) who recommended him to Riggan and Jake. While Lesley has her reservations about bringing Mike on board she is also trying to keep the show going as this will be her debut on Broadway, which is something she is desperate to accomplish.

Meanwhile, Riggan has to deal with his recently out of rehab daughter Sam (Stone), his young girlfriend Laura (Riseborough) who is also acting in the play and his ex-wife Sylvia (Ryan). On top of this Riggan's ego, his alter ego and life are all spinning out of control as he attempts to put his life and soul into a play which he needs to be a success.

That is the basic premises of the film and I don't want to go into anymore detail than that. What I can and will go into detail about are the fantastic performances by the cast and the frankly brilliant filming making which brought Birdman to the screen.

Michael Keaton has been a little absent from the silver screen in recent years but he has remained one of my all time favourite actors. It does not surprise me at all that he has been landing so much praise for his Oscar worthy performance in this film. If we look back at his career there are a number of films which stand out and which are pivotal for Keaton to deliver such an honest and satisfying performance in Birdman.

The obvious place to start perhaps would be the Batman films but the only comparison is the Superhero factor. In Birdman we see the satirical view of the aftermath of an actor being part of a successful film franchise, this isn't Keaton's view of reality but undoubtedly many people will join the parallels together far too easily. The main performances from Keaton's career, which lead to unleashing the layers of Riggan Thomson, can be found in the following four films; Beetlejuice, The Dream Team, The Paper and Multiplicity.

The reason I point out these particular films is because they all multi-layered characters played by Keaton and they give him the background to work with when developing Riggan Thomson. Birdman is a complicated film in that Keaton has to very quickly change his performance to match the persona he is playing. Given the way in which the film was made, mostly using a seemingly continuous shot with one camera, it is made all the more difficult.

The technical brilliance is one of the things I love about this film. Director Alejandro Inarritu brings simplicity and complicated together. At first it seems that he is shooting with one steadicam but then the shot will develop into something more, something grander. Yet it seems to happen effortlessly. Absolutely brilliant film making along with spot on lighting and flawless editing. Inarruitu, particularly in Act 1, makes a film look like a theatre production. Fascinating work.

The film is full of brilliant performances from Emma Stone, Ed Norton, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough and Zach Gallifanakis but for me Keaton is the standout performer here and as I said previously people will compare Birdman to Batman, they will mirror Riggan to Keaton but Michael Keaton isn't Riggan Thomson, Michael Keaton is Michael Keaton. Well, actually he's Michael Douglas but you know what I'm getting at.

Verdict;
5 out of 5.