I believe I can fly

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2016)

From 2015, Birdman is a satire on show business directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, who was also a co-writer of the script.
The story concerns Riggan Thomson, a movie star best known for the role of the superhero Birdman and its sequels.
Now in a midlife crisis, Riggan has left Hollywood and is preparing to perform on the Broadway stage. The play he is starring in and directing is one that he is also coproducing with his friend Jake (Zach Galifianakis). It is Riggan's adaptation of a Raymond Carver story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Riggan and Jake have put all their money into the show.
As the previews begin, there are problems. Riggan hates the actor in the supporting role. One of the women in the show brings in her boyfriend, a well-known actor, Mike Shiner. He is difficult to work with and also improvisational. At this first preview, he trashes the entire stage when he realizes the gin he is supposed to be drinking is water.
Riggan has hired his daughter Sam as his assistant; he wants to be there for her since she has just gotten out of rehab.
Finally the New York Times critic, Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan) tells Riggan she's going to destroy his play and him and close it down opening night.
Riggan is tortured by Birdman's voice, feeding his insecurities.
Birdman looks like one long take, and it is accompanied by a beautiful score.
Michael Keaton is tremendous as Riggan. Someone said it was his last chance for an Oscar. When he's 100, that may be true. He did a fabulous job. Unfortunately one way to win an Oscar is to have some sort of implant in your mouth (see the book Flesh & Fantasy) so he lost to someone who had an implant in his mouth.
Ed Norton, for me anyway, almost outshone him, but Keaton's role was more layered and his performance matched it. Norton actually was doing a parody of himself and his bad reputation. He was perfect.
As Riggan's daughter, Emma Stone hands in another wonderful performance and the difficulty in their father-daughter relationship was well played.
Naomi Watts often ends up in these frantic roles at which she excels. Here as a young actress who's not sure what she wants but thought she did, she does a beautiful job, as does Andrea Risborough as Laura, an actress who tells Riggan that she's pregnant (by him). All of the acting is top notch.
I have a few things to point out. Whenever someone is in a profession and sees a film concerning that profession, that person is going to have plenty to say. I am no longer a New York actress but here goes.
The St. James theater is extremely prestigious; however, in its 80- year history, it's been used maybe twice for plays. The only one I can think of is Becket. And the reason for using that huge theater? It starred Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn and could sell out 1500 seats.
No actor would be caught dead in the dressing room inhabited by Keaton, which looked like a utility room. Actors usually paint, decorate, and furnish their rooms, even if the show winds up running one week. Whether Riggan would do it or not, the St. James doesn't have anything that looks like that serving as a dressing room. Could you see Olivier sitting in that thing? This film was supposedly using the St. James, but a very seedy part of the building.
This movie is a real knock at show biz. Actors trying to stay relevant, everyone and his brother being in a superhero movie (which used to be B movies), actors' insecurities.
Riggan's greatest fame occurs when he tries to kill himself and before that, being locked out of the theater in his underwear. This does him a lot of good on Twitter and makes him relevant.
He realizes finally that nowadays, success is success wherever you go. It's not based on achievement, it's based on people talking about you, on the "buzz." I remember Jessica Lange saying she went into theater because she hated the politics of films. When she got to the theater, she realized it was exactly the same. And if someone could star a Real Housewife or a Kardashian in a play, they would. They may still.
The final scene is Riggan's grasp on reality and understanding that he doesn't have to try to achieve anything. His daughter smiles because he's finally figured it out.
Not everyone liked or could even tolerate this movie; I suspect theater people might be more sympathetic to it. What we talk about when we talk about love -- it's for each of us to figure out for ourselves.