Good acting lesson

Rating: 2/10 (24 February 2015)

I didn't want to watch the film after reading many reviews. I don't like films about the industry because they usually contain inside jokes and information more suitable for members of the industry. I did a modicum of acting as a professional in a different lifetime and understand the industry's need to massage its own ego. Birdman won the Oscar. I had to watch the film. I really wish I hadn't watched.
The acting was terrific. I love good work by actors, and I love Keaton. The two stars are for acting. The entire cast was great.
The script and the film itself didn't thrill me. Have you ever visited someone who just returned from a trip to some exotic location? Did they ask you to watch their "home movies"? Did you sit for an eternity listening to their bubbling stories of this, that, the other thing that made the trip so exciting for them while the film rolled on and on? Did you wish the projector would just blow up and end their talking and the visual images on the screen? If you visited the same area, the film might have meaning and you might enjoy seeing some of the old places you've been, and you may have even enjoyed the meaningless commentary. At the end of the home movies, the well meaning presenter usually sits back, totally self absorbed in the greatness of their journey wondering why your eyes are glazed over and a little drool is forming on your lip.
Birdman was someone's home movie. The script provided me with little in the way of empathy with any character and even less catharsis, yet Hollywood loved it without realizing it was a slap to their collective faces. It treated the movie going audience badly as well. Where was the reward?
There was no reward.