Great movie! Why are there so many bad reviews?

Rating: 9/10 (26 February 2015)

I'm really surprised to see how many one-star reviews of this film there are, it's just shocking. At least, at least, you have to give Birdman credit for its great performances - Oscar nominations for Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone are not a coincidence. The whole cast is really good and convincing, and just for that it deserves at least some stars - one would think.
Plus, the cinematography is remarkable, making the "one take" illusion very convincing. The music - granted, it's not "beautiful" - I think serves perfectly this kind of movie: it's always building suspense, and surrounding everything with a sense of unease. For me, it works. Then the script... If you don't like black comedies, that's fine, but you just can't fail to recognize there is genuine humor in several of the scenes (Thomson walking naked around Times Square, come on). And the way each "scene" is related to the following - which is necessary because of the "one take" - is very well done. Technically, it's a very accomplished film, in my opinion, and I just can't see how anybody could overlook that and give the film just one or two stars. That's for Zookeeper - but Birdman, please.
And, although this is more subjective, the plot itself is very compelling and interesting. Thomson, because of his ego, doesn't want to embrace his past, and tries to be someone he is not. You can tell - great performance, Keaton - that at first he doesn't really know how to act in his own play, and Mike makes this very clear - genius performance, Norton. But then, when he starts accepting who he really is, his quality of acting really improves, and at last he gives one of the best performances Broadway has ever saw: all of this, because he is not acting anymore, he is being himself, with all his past and his ego, and that's just what the protagonist of the play needs. And that makes sense, because he wrote it, and is an adaptation of Raymond Carver, who is in a sense the source of his acting ego. At least, I see it that way, and for me it really works.
Nine out of ten, maybe because is somehow lacking development for some characters. Maybe 8/10. Even 7/10, if you just dislike this kind of movie. But one or two out of ten? Come on.