Definitely overrated

Rating: 6/10 (20 February 2015)

Don't get me wrong, this film is definitely different and does some things very well. I think Ed Norton is fantastic, the back and forth between Keaton and Norton is worth seeing. Keaton definitely has his moments as well. Certainly buy into his character, his interaction with the critic is a great scene. However the scenes where he's responding to his alter ego/split personality "birdman" are little forced? By that, I mean the director seems to say- we are going to literally make you listen to the internal dialogue this character is having with himself to illustrate his personal struggle. I didn't need the dialogue to illustrate the struggle and found it a bit irritating? Just my opinion. Along those lines...I found the jazz drumming over the dialogue a little frustrating as well, to the point I had to put on subtitles. This movie was watchable, a good movie but for me not a 'must see' or an Oscar Nominee for my money. I really think this is a down year for films. Not to get into the other nominees, but Boyhood is incredibly overrated, Grand Budapest Hotel is another "different" movie that probably would not have been nominated in other years. Seems like the academy really bought into the 'it's different it must be good' theory this year which is a little unfortunate for us viewers. That being said I totally agree with the Academy on The Imitation Game however and feel it was the best movie of the bunch. Cumberbatch was terrific.