Exquisite Exhibit of Astonishing Acting and Devine Direction

Rating: 9/10 (29 May 2015)

What do you look for in a film? Humor? Good acting? Stimulating story? Birdman had it all and more. This film balanced A lovable, laughable and luring story against unique directing and addictive acting.
Birdman tells the story of a struggling ex superhero actor (Riggan, played by Micheal Keaton) trying to make a comeback in the great New York City theatre that will blow the audience away. Riggan runs into some bumps in the form of mike(Edward Norton)- the crazy actor, the estranged girlfriend- Laura (Andrea Riseborough) and delinquent daughter- Sam (Emma Stone). Riggan tries to solve the problems of the, soon to be released, play with a chip on his shoulder in the form of his superhero counterpart. The only one to help him is his best friend Jake (Zach Galifianakis).
Each actor said had a phenomenal performance, no matter how brief, and blew me away. I could only say that Michael Keaton and Edward Norton where the best because they are the most focused on characters. Every other character did not shine quite as bright as Keaton and Norton but shined none the less.
The directing was beyond brilliant. Alejandro González Iñárritu did something stupendously special and brought my undivided attention from start to finish with astonishing angles and splendid shots. He decided to shoot the film like one long take. You barely notice as the film goes so quickly and that is part of the art around it. Iñárritu decided that when he did end a take he would make it subtle. He did just that. I noticed very thew cuts and takes and that is largely due to the intricate editing.
The flaw with this film is probably the fact that it was maybe a tad too subtle at points like the whole superpowers aspect of Riggan. You assume he is crazy but it is meant to be obvious that he isn't and he can actually fly. By the end I finally realised it. I'm not for movies spelling it out to me so I can not argue with Iñárritu letting me figure it out for myself.
The other aspect was Emma Stone. I love her and she is damn near perfection, but if she did not irritate me every second she was on screen. I hated her character and I believed her to be out of place with the others. She was hugely underplayed but I do not know whether that was good or bad based on my displeasure for her role. That being the only huge flaw in the film, I did not find much else wrong with it.
To finish, I loved the beauty of Birdman (Or The Unexpected Vertue Of Ignorance) and it is a wonderful work of art. If I was Iñárritu, I would be sure to hell that Birdman will be my masterpiece.
+directing: unique and tremendously tantalising work from Alejandro González Iñárritu.
+acting: everyone evenly match and Keaton and Norton only stood out because they took majority of the screen time.
+story: well balanced and meaningful. Not your typical Oscar movie.
+music: could not have been anything better to accompany this movie.
-screenplay: did not allow enough time for love able characters
-subtlety: super subtle in some places but can not complain too much as I hate it when movies are not subtle enough. Never the less, the middle ground was not found for me.
Ratings: Acting;10
Story;9
Screenplay;8
Music;9
Pace;10
Directing;10
Humor;8
Overall;9.1/10