Resurrection of a hero?

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2015)

Went to see this after only briefly watching the trailer and here's my advice - ignore the trailer.
This is not a superhero film. I won't go into the nitty gritty of what makes this a great film as that would spoil all the nice little "is that real?" touches.
The film has a simple premise - an ex-movie star who was Birdman in a multi-billion dollar franchise (20 years previous) decides, for reasons you need to decide on, to restart his career in theatre.
He's written a play based on a short story by Raymond Carvers and is also directing, producing and starring in it. He's sunk everything into this play, money, spirit, sanity and will do anything to make it a success.
It's a slow film to build but that's fine, it tells an unfolding story of a man plagued by all sorts of demons but he's got a supportive group around him (for the most part)
I personally think that this is Keaton's finest acting. It shows what he can do when all the special effects and silly comedy is stripped away.
Edward Norton turns in a fine performance as the supporting actor role (in both the film and the play) - Mike. Riggan & Mike have a sort of love/hate relationship and the dialogues between Keaton & Norton are brilliant.
The rest of the supporting cast are great and my favourite scene is where Riggan confronts the critic Tabitha. I think every actor out there would agree 100% with what he says to her.
For a film that is about an actor who played a superhero, I think it's interesting how the main actors have played major roles in superhero movies : Michael Keaton - Batman Edward Nolan - The Hulk
(Might be coincidence!)
This is a film that you have to work at, it's full of discord (take the clashy drums in the background) and a LOT of dialogue. The film hardly ever leaves the theatre.
If you need a nice story tied up in a bow with lots of action and a happy ending, you won't like this. The final scene is reminiscent of Inception, you'll see why.....
But if you like a film with flawed characters, great dialogue and brilliantly acted then you can't go wrong with Birdman. My son is 15 and finds films like this hard to sit through (Mr Fidget!) but at the end he said it was a great film.
There are so many wonderful little nuances that I think I might need to watch it again.
Enjoy....