One of my favorites this year

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2014)

Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is an amazing callback to the likes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Scorsese. The standouts of the movie are the long takes and directing skill. The performances are multi layered and cool. Everything reeks of an art house tone and quality.
The move is about an actor played by Michael Keaton that is famous for playing a superhero; Birdman. He is tired of his reputation as a celebrity and wants to be recognized as an artist. His passion project is a play which he wrote, stars in, and directs. He pours all of his money and time into making it as good as possible. The story follows the actors in the play and the time up to opening. Keaton brings a performance like I've never seen from him. If all you've seen of his work is Batman you will no doubt be impressed. I personally was very surprised. From scenes were he's an actor playing an actor that acts in a play, to a hilariously funny fight with Edward Norton's character he constantly impressed me. Every scene that follows him with a tracking shot was implanted in my memory. One aspect of his character that I like was that he might possibly have super powers and it's left up to the viewer to decide. I love a character with multiple layers, and Keaton showed me that he either always had tremendous chops or he developed them in a hurry. He himself said it was his most difficult role, and I don't doubt it. Another actor that blew me away was Edward Norton. I'm not exaggerating; I think it was one of the best Norton performances. He plays an actor that has to fill in for an injured actor in for Keaton's play. As soon as he comes in for his first rehearsal he adds a new depth to the play. He plays an extreme method actor. Real emotion and real alcohol are essential for him to be at peak performance. His back and forth dialog with Keaton as they refine the script and their on stage chemistry is incredible. It felt like I, the viewer, was getting an inside look at the acting process. No matter how realistic or exaggerated that scene was I loved it. Norton is a lock as my pick for best supporting actor this year. Another stand out cast member was Emma stone. She plays Keaton's troubled daughter who seems to hang around the theater when she's not getting into trouble. Her big, bright eyes light up the screen. She has a really good scene that is close up on her face as she delivers a one take deconstruction of Keaton's character, yelling with ferocity I didn't know she had, she convinced me she could act then and there. I was never thinking of Gwen Stacy when I saw her and that's a good thing because her character is nothing like Gwen. She deserves any praise she gets. The rest of the cast like Naomi watts, Zack Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough were all good. The cast as a whole can't be rivaled this year in the quality of acting displayed on screen.
I opened with a comment referencing Hitchcock and I did so because the movie calls back to one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, Rope (1948). In Rope, Hitchcock filmed the entire movie in four to ten minute takes (because the film roles only went up to just over ten minutes) with editing tricks to make it look seamless. In the same way the director of Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu) wanted to make the entire film seem as though it was filmed all at once with no breaks. Iñárritu cleverly used special effects to pull it off. This style makes the movie like nothing you've seen before. Even when the scene advances to the next day the camera tilts up to the sky and then comes back down appearing to have never missed a beat. Visually, the way the movie moves could be tiring to some people because it forces the viewer to pay attention at all times. For me, after about ten minutes I got used to it. The movie spoils you with tracking shot after tracking shot. The directing is very good and I think, deserving of an Oscar.
Over all you can't go wrong with this film. It has everything a movie fan could want and more. You have to think about what you're watching, and you may get something new each time. I would highly recommend you see it for its acting and directing accomplishments.