This post was written by Hatchet reporter Jarrod Carman.
“Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
★★★★✰
As a Hollywood satire from a director who’s known for his bleak films, “Birdman” could have been a laborious exercise in despair.
Luckily, the film flies high.
In this latest film from Alejandro Iñárritu, Michael Keaton stars as Riggan Thompson, a washed-up celebrity who used to play a superhero named – you guessed it – Birdman.
Riggan decides to take on a new project: A Broadway adaptation of one of Raymond Carver’s short stories, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” to prove he’s more than just a man who put on tights for a paycheck.
Along the way, he must deal with his druggie daughter/assistant Sam (Emma Stone), pretentious Broadway star Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), his possibly pregnant girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough) and the voice of Birdman in his head.
Did I mention that Riggan might also have telekinetic powers?
The film seeks to satirize both the world of Broadway and the prevalence of superhero movies in today’s day and age, and it succeeds with hilarious results.
Riggan’s play comes off as particularly pretentious, as he’s managed to expand a short (emphasis on short) story into a full-blown, sold-out Broadway show. The addition of a theater critic who sets out to pan Riggan’s show before she even sees it is meant to demonstrate how ridiculous the world of theatre is.
The movie also mocks modern superhero films when we see Birdman, Riggan’s hallucination, follow Riggan around the streets of New York, begging him to sign on for “Birdman 4.”
“Birdman” even takes a jab at Oscar-nominated actors like Jeremy Renner and Michael Fassbender, who have taken roles in superhero films, when Riggan suggests casting them for his play.
This scene is especially ironic, given that Keaton, Stone and Norton have all taken major roles in superhero films in their careers.
Most of the film takes place inside the real St. James Theater on Broadway, which lends Riggan’s play and the movie itself some credibility. The incredible Emmanuel Lubezki (“Gravity”) shoots the film as one large scene without any cuts, allowing the audience to be fully immersed in the action.
The camera occasionally shifts to the first-person perspective of the characters, firmly placing the audience in their heads and showing how they see the world.
The performances are authentic and bring life to characters who would otherwise be caricatures. Keaton gives the best performance of his career, managing to make his character an anchor for the audience despite being incredibly selfish and possibly insane.
Norton is hilarious as Shiner, the actor who can only really live when he’s playing someone else. Norton mocks his own reputation for being difficult on set by creating the most egotistical character possible. In one scene, he demands he drink real alcohol as a prop in the middle of Riggan’s play instead of simply substituting water.
His performance is enhanced by Stone, who brings a real vulnerability to her role as an assistant straight out of rehab who spends all her time performing tasks for a bunch of prima donnas.
The film, however, has a hole at the center: We see the audience rapturously praising Riggan’s play, but we can’t tell whether it is good. Is Iñárritu trying to show Riggan as a genius, or is he mocking the general public for falling in love with something terrible?
Perhaps Iñárritu is laughing at the viewers of the film. We’re calling “Birdman” great and brilliant, but the meaning and conclusion of the film are left ambiguous. Are we applauding something we don’t even understand?
It’s a shame we’ll never get an answer.
Released: Oct. 17
Director: Alejandro Iñárritu (“Babel,” “Biutiful”)
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Cast: Michael Keaton (“Batman”), Emma Stone (“The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Easy A”), Edward Norton (“Fight Club,” “The Incredible Hulk”), Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”), Naomi Watts (“King Kong,” “The Ring”)
