7. Birdman
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is the type of film that only comes around once every several years. It is hilarious and entertaining while at the same time also challenging and dramatic. It is a portrait of a single man that makes bold statements about the current state of our society at large through its use of universal themes.
The film opens with Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) having conversation with his growl of an inner voice while levitating in his shabby, theatre dressing room. The voice, that of his legendary former superhero character alter ego Birdman, is a character in itself, perpetually plaguing Thomson over the course of the film by way of his own pride and insecurities.
While attempting to prove his relevance, through a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Thomson finds himself struggling to stay sane in a world far different from the one that once praised him for his big screen action movie exploits. Putting it all out on the line as writer, director and star of the play, Thomson’s perceived abilities are pushed to their very limits while he is simultaneously confronted by his past regrets as a husband and father…
Read the rest of William Fanelli’s ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ review here.
Originally published July 13, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
