Potential, but ultimately disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2015)

I found this film showy and way too self indulgent. The whole film is devoted to parodying itself, and acting, and theatre, and its cast and itself again. Yet it lacks the requisite humour. We get it, Keaton used to play Batman and is now washed up, and Norton is a method actor. Knowing this before hand, as would most cinema-goers does not make this parody particularly worthwhile.
The film takes a typical pot shot at theatre critics, and then attacks theatre for being bourgeois. Yet the film is filmed like a theatre play and it never escapes its stagey setting. Aside from Keaton and Norton, overacting at the centre, a variety of good actors are left on the sidelines in throwaway roles. Andrea Riseborough is particularly neglected and then cast aside for the majority of the film.
The middle of the film drags along as well before picking up at the end. But the finale is risible. The scriptwriters don't seem to have fully decided whether Keatons character is actually a birdman or just delusional so they go for both in a clichéd ending.
The film had potential, a great cast, some good cinematography, but ultimately it was a disappointment. Certainly shouldn't be the Oscar favourite all the critics seem to be raving about.