Movie Review: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Birdman feels like a stage play.  That would not normally be a compliment coming from me.  I don't dislike stage plays, its just that cinematic adaptations often set up the camera in the blandest way possible in order to maintain the integrity of the words and acting.  Birdman is not an adaptation of a stage play, but it takes place during the production of a stage play, and it also shows us exactly how cinema can take that setting and effectively enhance it.

Michael Keaton plays a one-time Hollywood superstar who is trying to put on an adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story.  The movie follows him around as he deals with his personal assistant and bratty daughter (Emma Stone), his stressed out lawyer (Zack Galifianakis), the female lead of the play (Naomi Watts) and her legendary actor boyfriend who joins the cast at the last minute (Edward Norton).  

From a formal perspective, this movie is quite innovative.  The film is presented to us as one long, uncut camera shot, tracking the characters through fairly narrow backstage passageways and occasionally out into greater Manhattan.  In reality, the story takes place over a week or two, so the cuts are really just well hidden, but the effect creates a greater sense of immediacy.  When I say this feels like a stage play, this is where it does so brilliantly-- the camera work is incredibly intimate and you often feel like you're in the room with the actors.  But unlike with a stage play, you can feel like you're in bed with them, or even in their heads.

The acting is terrific-- it has to be, because so much of the theme is about acting and what makes it good, bad or destructive.  But I don't want to get too lost in its formal achievements-- it's also a damn entertaining movie.  This is a comedy, played by actors with very good comedic chops.  I really hope it revives Keaton's career, because he's been out of the limelight for far too long.  

The only reservation I have about the film is the soundtrack, which is mostly just jazzy drums fading in and out of scenes.  That's a minor quibble.  This is a great movie, an important film, and is liable to be nominated for all sorts of awards come the end of the year.  Check it out, if it's in your neighborhood...