Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) – Encore Review 2

This a Covid-19 2020 minireview!

“[as Birdman] People, they love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit.” – Riggan

Number of Times Seen – 3 (9 Jan 2015, 16 Feb 2015 and 8 Sep 2020)

Link to original review – Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – A actor who use to have a career as a movie superhero tries to shed his past by producing and tarring in a very dramatic play.

Bottom Line -Intriguing idea that works largely due to the ‘one-take’ gimmick of the film. Michael Keaton s great in the lead role and helps ring this character to life before out eyes because he is torn between his fame form the past and his yearning for acceptance as being a more serious actor. The rest of the cast is superb with Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough and Amy Ryan all add so much to this story. The story tries too hard to be existential and that makes so much of things seem a bit too esoteric which hurts things. Love the way that its so easy to see Keaton in this role due to his background as a superhero actor. As much as this is a fun film to watch with grat characters, I’m still a bit confused in retrospect how this film was able to win Best Picture. The award for Best Director for Alejandro G. Iñárritu is understandable tho because of the way that this story is put together and how the ‘continuous shot’ gimmick of the film helps make things even enjoyable because of the way it constantly makes the viewer try and search for the breaks in the shot. Not as fun to watch on a rewatch than it was the original time around. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Because the movie was carefully rehearsed and shot in sequence, editing only took two weeks. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10) (downgrade from original review)