"Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige."

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2014)

If you're a fan of dialog-driven "tour-de-force" ensemble acting movies then "Birdman" is for you. Besides the great cast and script, the real star of the film is the D.P. Emmanuel Lubezki. He weaves technical magic with the camera and in the editing room; about 100 of the movie's 119 minutes are made to look like one almost seamless take, with no cuts. The single-camera, extended tracking-shot style pioneered by Hitchcock and refined by Kubrick, Orson Welles, Scorsese and a few other directors, is taken to a whole new level here. Even with the crisp, snappy non-stop dialog, some camera tricks took me out of the story just long enough for me to wonder how in hell it was achieved. I'm sure Academy Award nominations are in store for the cinematography and editing as well as for director Alejandro Iñárritu.
Michael Keaton has been given the definitive role of his career, and he puts the opportunity to good use. The supporting ensemble cast is also great; it's obvious everybody sank their teeth into their roles with abandon. The level of intensity is on a par with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - the groundbreaking 1966 movie about four people having emotional meltdowns. In this story, it's Keaton's central character who's losing his grip on reality, and the audience is along for the ride on a hot rail to Hell.
There is a lot of wit and humor to balance out the pathos though - it's not an unrelenting downer by any stretch. And the final scene is ambiguous enough to allow the viewer to decide for him/herself if it's tragic or joyous. I thought that was a nice touch.
A few caveats: Edward Norton's self-centered asshole actor character is a bit one-dimensional, occasionally over-the-top, but always interesting, if not a scene-stealer. A few parts of the script are predictable (I was anticipating some lines of dialog before they were spoken), and the story premise itself isn't original, but has had variations done many times before (a middle- aged former superstar actor/athlete/lawyer/criminal who's fallen on hard times goes for one last shot at redemption in a winner-takes- all gamble). Having said that, the combined talents in this endeavour manage to put together an extraordinary work of art, flaws and all, and for those who are tired of Hollywood drivel with caped crusaders and CGI explosions, this is the right antidote. A feast for the eyes, ears and brain. Four stars.