Nothing special - Overadvertised

Rating: 3/10 (2 February 2015)

I sat down with great anticipation about the movie, I really did! In the end I just decided it was more or less a waste of my time. Not everything was that bad though. I really liked the photography and direction of the movie. Some of the shots were really really nice but overall I was left with a feeling of dizziness from all the weird angles. The storyline was OK but nothing special I would say. The acting from Keaton was exemplary as was the one from Norton and Galifianakis, but they alone could not save a movie that was (a) script less and (b) all over the place during most of the film.
I did not appreciate the constant noise from drums and other instruments and I definitely did not like all this constant confusion. I liked the effect with the special powers and they way in which the director handled the taxi scene where you understand that he's just a man after all. I did not care for the mixed up ending as well. From my point of view, I think that what happened after the gun shot, was in his mind for this brief moment before he passed away. He did not shoot his nose from point blank and he did not miraculously lived from that! He can't have.
This is a nice finding as well but we could do with a more concrete proof that indeed that's the ending. Having his daughter looking low and then high in the air and seeing him fly or not. No, that's just something I don't care about. I like my movies to end in the end and not go online and search about it, thank you very much.
I did not like all the emphasis on the movie critic. She actually pushed him to suicide, doing nothing more in the movie, sitting there and drinking in the same bar, actually having 4-5 lines. What's that about? Is it to blame it on the theater critics in general? Is this a statement? I think not. As for Keaton, he is also a really fragile and strong character at the same time, with no will to live, hanging, barely on his own breath, trying to survive minute by minute. He has depicted really well his character, indeed, but it's the character himself that I did not like. What's he about? He's miserable and pathetic and then a theater critic pushes him over the edge and he just kills himself... Really? In general, all the characters were depicted on a superficial level (someone would expect the opposite them being actors and all) not allowing the viewer to relate or merely to understand their actions and pick sides.
Having watched all the other Oscar nominated actors and movies, Birdman was a true disappointment of a movie. The only thing that saves the day is the performance of Keaton, even playing a character not worthy of much.