Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman is a different kind of film than what moviegoers may be used to from the director. It's a drama, it's a dark comedy, it's surreal, and it's Michael Keaton's best performance to date.
Keaton plays a washed-up actor named Riggan Thomson -- best known to his fans as Birdman. Over twenty years past his prime, he's planned a career comeback, with his stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", which he also stars in and directs.
But as the countdown begins to its preview screenings, he's having trouble keeping it all together: his cast, his relationships, and not the least of all himself.
A snippet from my theatrical review:
Keaton plays a washed-up actor named Riggan Thomson -- best known to his fans as Birdman. Over twenty years past his prime, he's planned a career comeback, with his stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", which he also stars in and directs.
But as the countdown begins to its preview screenings, he's having trouble keeping it all together: his cast, his relationships, and not the least of all himself.
A snippet from my theatrical review:
4.5 out of 5.We often see and hear things from Riggan's perspective, such as when the voice of his alter ego speaks to him in moments of stress, beckoning him to return to the role; or when he imagines he has telekinetic powers, and he uses them to send objects in his dressing room smashing against the wall in a fit of rage. In conjunction with the film's score, which consists largely of bouts of staccato drumming that permeate almost every scene, it adds a layer of surrealism to the overall effort — beyond the obvious Batman to Birdman comparisons — piquing when Riggan succumbs to full-on delirium, soaring high over the streets of New York.
Yet, Birdman isn't gimmicky. There's an intimacy about it, the kind that makes it almost feel like a play itself. And that's due in no small part to the actors, each of whom is playing a character who's vulnerable in one way or another. But it's Keaton, of course, who steals the show, with an eye-opening performance laced with raw intensity and dark humor, seeing the world around him as only a man at the end of his rope could. His story — that of someone seeking professional and personal redemption — underpins the movie. And boy does it resonate.