Movie Review: Birdman

Leaving Birdman, I was a little bit frustrated. It has one of those open endings where you’re supposed to fill in the blanks, and those have never been ideal for me. What’s most frustrating about this fact is just how good the rest of the film is. It’s like when you finish a delicious cup of coffee then go for that last bit left in the cup, and when it hits your tongue, you realize how bad of a decision you just made because all of the sweetener had settled down in the bottom. However, if open endings are your thing, then you’re in luck, because you will have watched a great movie that comes to a satisfying ending.

Birdman follows Riggan (Michael Keaton), a slightly unstable Hollywood actor, who is looking for artistic legitimacy by writing, directing and starring in his own Broadway play. Riggan had become a success story playing the superhero Birdman, not unlike Keaton himself. Now older and washed up, Riggan is seeking a different type of satisfaction.

The best part of Birdman is easily its talented cast. Edward Norton plays the Broadway king Mike, who stars in Riggan’s show. Emma Stone is Riggan’s angst-ridden daughter and personal assistant Sam. Then there is Zach Galifianakis, who plays Riggan’s lawyer. And, of course, without Michael Keaton, there is no movie. First of all, these characters are really strange. None of them seemed like the type of people you actually want to be friends with. Each of them are, at the very least, self-centered and, at their worst, completely insane. What writer and director Alejandro González Iñárritu did very well was create complex, sympathetic characters, who a viewer could laugh at, hate, and simultaneously route for. They kept you on your toes, and would never have been able to come to life so effectively without these actors.

The cinematography was also very entertaining. It effectively took this aesthetically dull setting—the backstage area of a show--and made it lively and maze-like. Similarly, the story took the life of a washed up actor, and made it complicated and unique. I was completely engaged with Iñárritu’s movie until he asked for my input on the ending.

Birdman is worth watching from beginning to five minutes from the end.