Movie Review: Birdman [Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance]

The ever present beating of drums throughout the entirety of the film keeps the emotional tensions at bay; it sure made me at ease with every shift of the scene change momentum with smooth camera transitions. The coping with the roller-coaster of emotions had been as smooth as I was viewing a musical. The film is almost 2 hours on dialogue yet there was never a dull moment. I liked it from the way it began with that cryptic dead jellyfish (?) to the ubiquitous split persona of a flying bird-man always pestering Keaton wherever he goes – his room, the bar, even while on the road and at the hospital. That euphoria kept me glued; it connects fantasy and real world seamlessly. It lets us enter into his inner world of personal demons.

It’s also more like a play on celebrity relevance knowing how Keaton disappeared from the limelight so many years after he was the iconic Batman. All he was now is an ageing actor. I love Batman but we all know this movie franchise always gets a reboot. Sadly for Keaton, his run ended in 1992 much like how Riggan Thomson, his character ended his fame with the last installment of Birdman, coincidentally in 1992 as well [if I remember that correctly].

For a star of such stature to sink so low after all this time, I can’t help but imagine watching Michael’s own rise and fall story but it is somehow altered I believe. Add former Hulk star, Edward Norton in the fray, I believe casting got completed when they chose Emma Stone to support him. We all know she just recently died on the latest Spiderman reboot as the superhero’s first love interest. This looks to me like an ensemble that Keaton would have personally picked up if he was handling casting. You’ll never realize that until you picture them all three together particularly in that rehearsal scene.

Beyond that, what’s more entertaining is that I grew up watching and loving superhero flicks so this connection was automatic right off the bat after seeing these brilliant actors together. But what took Michael so long to stage such a strong comeback? Apparently he had minor films in between his last Batman film and Birdman. 

Ironically Norton’s character was named Mike and Keaton's character was Riggan, a forgotten movie star from 1992 [right when the last Batman flick he starred in was shown] who played the iconic Birdman [err-Batman, sorry for mixing reality with fantasy!].

He survives by putting a gamble on a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver entitled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” for he had been inspired by a note purportedly written by the man and it suddenly became his scapegoat of a dream. What I have been most fascinated about was the film’s surplus of villains, typical of the movies Thomson once starred in – superhero flicks.

Mike Shiner [Norton's character] was notably first up on the line. His character looked to me like the saving grace of Thomson’s desperate theater plans but all he was is like Superman’s Luthor; a fluid character who goes from saving the boat to almost sinking it. That’s where Thomson realized a few things that played well with the outcome of the film. Our Birdman almost got his nose off because of that damn gun change but he ended up flying toward the latter parts of the film anyway. For me Norton plays the real celebrities that would have ridden off a movie star’s fame in real life while at the same time contradicting it too. Keaton may have had some episodes in his career where an actor/actress or any film industry insider worked with him, screwed with him but he eventually got out of the deadlock which was to say the least, how the Birdman came to reality.

Next on the list was his daughter, the gorgeous Emma Stone. She represents the youth of today because she’s connected to social media, a very defining trait of many youngsters. She reminds her father how this whole theater fiasco is just a dumb way for him to validate his claim that he is still the mega-star he once was. Thomson being already old don’t even have Facebook which Emma uses as metaphor to his father's non-existence. I know that's shallow but you see a glimmer of truth in there somehow. That’s how popularity has been nowadays and Sam [Emma] clearly shows that disconnect.

I also consider the grouchy, pompous lady critic who chose a particular bar for her writing alone time itinerary, as one of the anti-heroes. But she represents to me the many critics out there too, professional are some of them! Some, build up movies honestly, others just seeing holes in otherwise perfect films or Broadway plays; worse are the paid scoundrels! There would be some who’d not praise Birdman to the moon, she [critic Tabitha Dickinson or actress Lindsay Duncan] represents those critics. That’s how life is, as an artist is anyway; you get either critical acclaim or scathing remarks. Tabitha may have had a change of heart though toward the end.

But heroes don’t live the day saving people’s asses with no allies. Thomson had some of his own too and they’re played by many great characters as well. For one, the ever hilarious Zach Galifianakis was a tad too serious in his lawyer and friend portrayal but he had been a supporting glue for Riggan’s mess-ups from start to finish, although his means to an end may not be all ethical.

His wife was also supportive in a sense that she dropped some major clues on our protagonist’s psyche early on. That powerful quote from the 31^st minute mark left me speechless. She said “you confuse love for admiration”. True enough, in such few words, we knew why Thomson acts the way he does and why he would act the way he did throughout the film. Eccentric to say the least, but he loved the craft more than anything. He was a negligent father who prioritized work more than his daughter making him an absentee parent, had affairs to satisfy his manhood and had this obsession for fame. I guess this sticks to any movie stars who are now living lives away from all the glam.

The film is also peppered with a lot of other quotable one liners and if you’re not busy enough to spot them while watching or re-watching, I’d quote a few other personal favorites for convenience’ sake.

Galifianakis: “That was a present from the crew, don’t fuck with those guys, they’re union.”

[Disclaimer: Not entirely spoken by any of the characters but this quote off Riggan’s mirror caught my eye]: “A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing”

Norton: “Make it work with one line” [telling us to keep it short and simple!]

Another Norton: “You know a douchebag’s born every minute, that was PT Barnum’s premise when he invented the circus and nothing much has changed…”

Stone: “You are not doing this for the sake of art, you are doing this because you wanna feel relevant again.”

Stone again: “When I was in rehab they made us do this. It’s a… [on a very long tissue roll] these dashes represent the 6 billion years that the earth has been around, so each dash represent a thousand years and this is how long humans have been here [just a single piece]. A hundred and fifty thousand years. I think they’re trying to remind us that that’s all our ego and self-obsession are worth.” [being consistent on how she tackles her father’s irrelevance to the modern times and direct attack on her father’s obsession].

Keaton: “I can’t smell…”

Birdman alter-ego [Keaton]: “You destroyed a genius book with that infantile adaptation, now you’re about to destroy what’s left of your career.”

To continue, Birdman also obviously tackles a lot about the state of theater today though I’m no expert on this manner, it’s pretty obvious what the film wants to convey and they used the critic’s character for us viewers. She wants to kill the play because of Riggan’s inexperience. For her, theater is so sacred you can’t just budge in and do what you want to do because you have the resources. Riggan retaliated with a classic “he’s an actor” dialogue telling us how critics don’t realize what it’s really like on the other end of the stage. Contemplating hard enough though makes you realize that the critic somehow had a point. To be able to enter any new craft, you need not just talent but also guidance. Riggan had the former but not the latter. Well to close my theater banter, let’s just say there are always unexpected virtues in ignorance as it sometimes draws a new blood thus the film’s sub-title.

Give or take, the film was superb and something I would have loved to be shown on film viewing activities for art and communication students come time. I never knew Keaton beyond Batman but his tenacity to take up on this film is way more satisfactory to me for an expected accolade sooner or later [He already has Golden Globes and Critics Choice for this film as of this writing, few more hits and he could win a BAFTA and an Oscar too]. The rest of the cast are also superb and I wouldn’t mind saying it’s one of the best I've seen this early. I think we’re off to a good year with movies [although the movie actually opened last year].

As for takeaways, I had two major ones. First, that fame for most celebrities can ruin lives beyond what we see portrayed by the news. It’s no wonder, a-listers sometimes resort to illegal drugs, have eccentric ways on social media and have mental disorders such as depression or obsession. The struggle for relevancy for someone who was already there but has been gone for long is high and if you’re passionate at what you do, it will eat you alive but that is if you manage to get out of the business of show alive [or of ripe age].

And lastly, I learned that Farrah Fawcett died the same day as Michael Jackson; go figure!