CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

The quest to watch all of the movies nominated for an Academy Award in the categories of best motion picture, best actor and actress, and best actor and actress in a supporting role by February 22nd when the Oscar ceremonies are televised began with the viewing of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).  Birdman, directed, co-written and co-produced by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Michael Keaton for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Edward Norton for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Emma Stone for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.  During the awards season, the movie has moved to the forefront as a favorite after winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the Producer’s Guild Award for Outstanding Producer and Michael Keaton’s win at the Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture.  The Director’s Guild Awards will be on February 7th and may place Birdman as the definite favorite for Best Picture at the Oscars even though American Sniper is leading the way at the box office against all other nominees.  Birdman (spoiler alert) tells the story of a middle-aged actor, Riggan Thomson (played by Michael Keaton) who decades earlier achieved great success playing the comic book character Birdman and now years later has reached a point in his life where he is attempting to resurrect his career, salvage his relationship with his daughter, Sam (a very strong performance by Emma Stone), and determine how far he is willing to go to be relevant.  Riggan has invested everything he has to prove he is a relevant actor again when he writes, stars, and directs an adaptation of Raymond Carver’s story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love on Broadway   There is a powerful scene early in the movie between Riggan and Sam when he is attempting to tell Sam how important this play is to his career and his appreciation of her work as his assistant when the conversation turns abruptly to the first of several instances when Riggan’s relevance is made clear to him.  Sam tells him very harshly that he is “not doing it for the sake of art.  You are doing it to feel relevant again.  You’re terrified like the rest of us you don’t matter.”  Another character that tells Riggan about the mess of his life is the inner voice of Birdman that Riggan is unable to block.  His daughter makes the point he is not relevant in this world without a Facebook and Twitter account and after many scenes where Riggan losses himself in visions and hallucinations where he hears the Birdman inner voice telling him he is a “sad, selfish, mediocre actor” you begin to suspect that Riggan has chosen to escape from the world and his inner demons into a fantasy world where he has Birdman’s comic book powers and some semblance of power and control over his life.  Riggan has several scenes with a fellow actor in the play, Mike Shiner (another convincing performance by Edward Norton), and again it is demonstrated throughout these scenes that Mike is the true artist that belongs on Broadway and Riggan is a visitor that will soon be forgotten.  Another compelling scene is when Riggan confronts the New York Times critic, Tabitha Dickinson (a wonderful performance by Lindsay Duncan), and again it is made brutally clear to Riggan that he is not relevant to Broadway and she plans on making that abundantly clear in her review.  The film brings together the struggles of life, relationships and relevance in humor, fantasy, and harsh reality and allows you to choose which fantasy or reality you will grasp at the end of the film.  I will not go into detail of how the play unfolds and the film resolves the issue of relevance because I am still trying to interpret the final scene of the movie and its meaning (so far I am leaning toward fantasy).  A great performance by Michael Keaton and I thought the main cast members of Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, and Zach Galifianakis were tremendous.