Michael Keaton Soars in Mesmerizing ‘Birdman’

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Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There are parts of “Birdman” that are absolutely breathtaking, in dialogue, performance and visual acumen. Even its subtitle, “The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance” has a wonderful payoff. Michael Keaton provides an Oscar worthy performance as the title character.

The film is cut as if it were one long take, with cinematic coolness from director Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Babel”). If you’ve heard about the film, with Michael Keaton portraying a character that once starred in a huge superhero franchise, then you may think it’s autobiographical – substitute Batman for Birdman. But this is a fully realized and complex character that is mostly unlike the real life and affable Keaton. The performance is up close and personal, it goes places that are both dark and light, it mingles with the energy of the supporting cast with vivid and glorious insight. This is the Michael Keaton that proves he can carry a motion picture and bring it to substantial virtue, and it’s a wonderful ride that is awe-evoking from beginning to end.

Riggan (Keaton) is a has-been movie star who had his day back in the 1990s, when he portrayed franchise superhero Birdman. The actor is rolling the dice on Broadway, writing, performing and directing a stage play based on the writings of author Raymond Carver. His daughter Sam (Emma Stone), fresh from rehab, acts as his assistant and confidante.

Riggan (Michael Keaton) and Friend in ‘Birdman’
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

His fellow performers in the play are giving him fits, especially the mercurial Mike (Edward Norton), who used to be the lover of co-star Lesley (Naomi Watts). His lawyer/agent Jake (Zach Galifianakis) is convinced the show won’t work, and the haughty New York Times critic (Lindsay Duncan) is looking to bury the play. It might take his alter ego Birdman to save Riggan’s crumbling life.

Using the short story artist Raymond Carver, as director Robert Altman did in “Short Cuts,” is a stroke of narrative genius. The more you know about Carver, the better the backstage drama works, because much of what the author expounds upon becomes the angst of Riggan and his fellow travelers. It is love that all the characters are searching for, either of themselves or others, and Carver authored that longing as well as any American writer.

Michael Keaton understood the inner psychosis of Riggan, and no doubt put some of the black comedy elements of his life as Batman into the mix. Birdman is a different schizophrenic personality than the Dark Knight, and Keaton performs both Riggan and Birdman with supple madness. There is a point where they walk together, and there is a thrilling eeriness in their presence of each other.

The supporting cast is whip sharp. Emma Stone may have her most complete characterization in “Birdman,” as she delivers a power speech regarding recovery and modern life. Edward Norton sends up his rumored difficulties as a method actor, and actress Lindsay Duncan is all frigid ice in her small role as a powerful theater critic (a fading misnomer). Every actor seems invested in creating something special, and it shows.

Sam (Emma Stone) Seeks Redemption in ‘Birdman’
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

One minor complaint is the multiple takes on the conclusion. The film seems to end in several teasing ways, and the final fadeout is a bit twee. However, the ending was preceded by a truly surreal series of events, incredibly creative and cutting like a jazz improvisation. This is a contemporary film about modern expression, and lacerates the social culture into finely sliced just deserts.

Yes, I used “soar” in the headline, because it is a perfect descriptive for the flight of fancy that the film portrays. If all the world’s a stage, and the persons merely players, then “Birdman” encapsulates that Shakespearian paraphrase in a well-born manner.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com