2015 Best Picture winner, it is a comical and critical look at the shallowness of movies.

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2015)

I had initially decided to NOT see this movie based on the negative things I had heard about it. But how can I be a real movie fan if I refuse to see a Best Picture winner? I can't so I did. On DVD from my public library.
At its core this movie is critical of the success of meaningless action blockbuster movies, successful because that is what audiences want to see. That is what sells tickets. And to put my "viewer hat" on for a second, often that is why we see movies, to get away from reality and be entertained.
But what about more legitimate actors and legitimate stage plays? Why can't audiences enjoy those just as much? At the center of this fictional story is Michael Keaton as Riggan. Some 20 years earlier as a man of 40 he was "Birdman", a type of superhero. (Maybe spoofing "Ironman"?) Now having turned 60 he is looking for something meaningful and also to dispel the constant nagging that maybe he never was any good anyway, just an actor with the right franchise at the right time.
So he writes, directs, and stars in an adaptation from a short story. I have been in plays and have worked behind the scenes and the movie fairly well depicts what goes on there. The rehearsals, the insecure actor, the disruptive actor. So by the time final rehearsals are at hand and opening night on Broadway looms, Riggan is about broke and can't sleep much. But the play must go on.
There is a lot of whimsy in the movie, often it isn't possible to tell when we are seeing reality or when we are seeing Riggan's visions, as when he is actually floating in the air. No matter it all comes together and seems to be a worthy Best Picture winner. Although I must say this was not the best year for Best Picture candidates. Of the nominees I probably would go with "The Grand Budapest Hotel", even more whimsical and more entertaining.