Keaton nails quirky tale of artistic redemption
As the dad of a New York actress, I receive a lot of insider reports on what really goes on behind the scenes during theater productions, readings and national tours.
So I can say with some authority that Alejandro G. Inarritu's brilliantly executed black comedy "Birdman" (enigmatically subtitled "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance") nails the Manhattan backstage experience with all its confusion, quirky personalities, angst, roiling libidos, frustrations and intertwined, combustible relationships.
This superbly realized milieu serves as the setting for a slightly fantastic, extremely personal story of an artist's desperate, all-out attempt to redeem his purchased soul by mounting an ambitious stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love."
The play has been written, produced and directed by Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), an actor mostly known for playing the winged superhero in three "Birdman" action movies before he fell into relative obscurity after refusing to do "Birdman 4."
Keaton's casting marks a stroke of inspiration here, for who could better understand this man than the actor who shot to international superstardom in Tim Burton's first two "Batman" movies, then dropped off the proverbial radar for a while after turning down "Batman Forever"?
As Riggan, Keaton rips away vanity - he looks old, tired and balding - and bares his thespian soul to Emmanuel Lubezki's unblinking, ceaselessly prowling camera. His is the most brutally honest and selfless film performance I've seen so far this year; the rest of the cast isn't far behind.
With his play ready for previews at the St. James Theater on West 44th Street - the setting for 95 percent of this movie - Riggan abruptly realizes one of his actors stinks.
An onstage accident takes the actor out (Riggan says he willed it to happen; more about that in a moment), allowing for established movie star Mike Shiner (Edward Norton, walking on razors with grace) to come aboard.
This is good news for Riggan's producer/attorney Jake (Zach Galifianakis, a revelation as a buttoned-down businessman), because Mike will sell more tickets.
Leslie (Naomi Watts effecting restrained neuroses), a film actress making her Broadway debut, isn't so sure. Mike's her boyfriend.
A total narcissist, Mike has no problem displaying his body backstage. He shows up knowing everyone's dialogue and instantly starts rewriting Riggan's adapted script, and undermining the director.
Meanwhile, "Birdman" spins the familiar subplot of a father who's ignored his wife Sylvia (Amy Ryan) and tattooed daughter Sam (Emma Stone, emanating stunning charisma and command of character). So now he has an ex-wife and a lost, angry daughter just coming out of rehab. And she really likes Mike.
Throw in one of the most archaic and unprofessional depictions of a major New York newspaper theater critic ("I will kill your play!" Lindsay Duncan's critic hisses at Riggan before she's even seen the show) and you've got a powder keg of personalities just waiting to explode.
"Birdman" flies a little higher than stark realism would allow. Riggan possesses supernatural powers to move objects at will (or does he just imagine it as a way to boost his sense of power?).
He also hears the intimidating voice of Birdman (Keaton's altered voice) constantly advising and guiding him like Frank the evil rabbit counseling Jake Gyllenhaal in "Donnie Darko." Is it real? Yes? No? Maybe. This is, after all, a testament to the human spirit.
Inarritu shot "Birdman" in 30 fleet days with Lubezki's superior camera work effortlessly piecing the story together in a seemingly seamless single take, or at least close to it.
Showy tracking shots can sometimes become distracting. Here, Lubezki's lens moves nimbly through the St. James, organically capturing the actors flitting in and out of frame with breathless ease.
It's the kind of daring, accomplished work that critics and Oscar voters notice - along with all the other delectable cinematic elements to behold in "Birdman."
“Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance”
★ ★ ★ ★
Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Lindsay Duncan
Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Other: A Fox Searchlight release. Rated R for language, sexual situations, violence. At the River East 21 and Century Centre in Chicago and the Evanston Century 18. Will expand to suburbs later. 119 minutes