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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
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Le Grisbi Productions
?
M Productions
New Regency Pictures New Regency Pictures
TSG Entertainment TSG Entertainment
Worldview Entertainment Worldview Entertainment

Not part of a collection.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

How did we end up here?

2014 • 120 min • ★ 7.4 (13,823) • Released
Comedy Drama

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Original title
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Language
EN
Country
US
Budget
$18,000,000
Revenue
$103,215,094
Reviews & Ratings 6
CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

Oct 9, 2026 · via TMDB

★ 7.0

With his glory days seemingly behind him, former "Birdman" actor "Riggan" (Michael Keaton) is trying to prove he is still an acting force to be reckoned with by putting on a play on Broadway. He has adapted it, is directing it and has his name in lights too and just about everything he owns is riding on this. That includes his best friendship with "Jake" (Zach Galifianakis) whose patience is running out as his erratic and occasionally quite precious friend works his way throught the previews. Then a lighting mishap robs him of one of his cast and with only a few days to go before opening, they discover that most likely successors are already hard at work in the Marvel universe. Then, out of the blue, "Mike Shiner" (Edward Norton) comes onto his radar. He's an established name for theatre goers and seems keen to take on the role of something akin to his antagonist in "What We Talk About Love...". This man is a natural, indeed he is way better at improvising and imbuing his character with fizz than "Riggan" and so with temperatures rising behind the curtain; arch-critic "Tabitha" (Lindsay Duncan) just gagging to write a scathing review for the New York Times and his own family dynamic looking more like that of the Borgias, he hasn't his problems to seek. Can he and the increasingly exasperated "Jack" manage to get this thing in front of an audience? If so, what chance it will succeed or just end up running the night? If that old adage about all of life being a stage is ever to be exemplified on screen, then this could be that film - and Keaton is on perfect form. Here is a man who has come to believe in his own celebrity and also, to quite an unnerving extent, in some of the "super powers" attributed to his "Birdman" character with whom he regularly communicates! As this fairly brutally satirical exposé of many things Thespian unfolds, we watch not just a critique of some of the artistic excesses of the luvvies, but we also drill a little into the psychology of adulation and of it's toxic and addictive properties. "Riggan" is a man who has had it all but who has managed to fritter away just about everything of importance to be left with a shell, an hollow and empty existance devoid of any really meaningful relationships with people like his daughter "Sam" (Emma Stone). Norton is good at playing the foil and he doesn't disappoint here. He manages to craft a provocative and fairly unlikeable persona that seems designed to provide the ultimate contrast to "Riggan" and thereby initiate confrontation between them - but in a way that comes across as natural and often quite entertaining, rather than contrived. What's also quite effective here is the pacing. Like the lives it's supposed to be reflecting it sometimes hares along at an almost frantic pace then at other times slows to something more glacial, but Keaton manages to make sure you don't lose interest in his fate and that of his often quite perilous production. Hollywood is littered with talent that had their day in the sun and retired gently to Palm Beach, "Riggan" isn't one of those and by the end I couldn't quite decide whether I wanted him to succeed, or for "Tabitha" to let rip.

Peter McGinn

Peter McGinn

Dec 16, 2020 · via TMDB

★ 6.0

I was drawn to watch this film for a couple of reasons. One, basically, was Michael Keaton. Overall I find movies are worth a look when he is in it. Also there is the play within a play, the stage production his character is doing, based on an actual short story by Raymond a carver. When I first started writing short stories and novels decades ago, I was influenced by Carver’s spare writing style and his realistic dialogue. I guess this particular short story has been used in a few short films also. I don’t believe this movie is in any way considered an Independent Film, but it has that feel to me, the way it clings to gritty realism and comic book fantasy all at once, the philosophical musings of most of the characters, the total lack of a defined ending, all speak to me of an independent film. I didn’t come away from watching it thinking it was a great movie, merely interesting in places and well acted. Unfortunately, I disliked most of the characters, with a few exceptions such as the discarded ex-wife/girlfriend or whatever she was. However skilled the production standards and acting might be, this movie proved to me that empathy for the characters and the quality of the writing still counts for a lot. And as a writer (of lower quality admittedly) I was relieved to realize it.

Matthew Brady

Matthew Brady

Jan 27, 2020 · via TMDB

★ 10.0

"I'm nothing. I'm not even here." The story to Birdman is about an wash up actor (Michael Keaton) - famous for portraying an iconic superhero - as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself. Okay in my review of Whiplash I bought this movie up mid way through the review just to give a heads up of when I'm going to watch it, because Birdman was my most anticipated film of 2014. But just like every time I really wanted to see a film so baldy I have to wait for a while until I finally get a chance to watch it, story of my life really. But anywhere, I was really looking forward to this movie ever since September, and now finally seeing the film I can safely say that Birdman is one of the best movie of 2014. I always know that Micheal Keaton was the kind of movie star that will pick any random movie role just because... well he what's to be important and still show to everyone that he still got it, I guess. Early last year he was in two movies that were pretty blah, and that was The Robocop (remake) and Need for Speed, and those films just made Keaton look like he was just cashing it in just for the sake of it. Until I watched this movie and seeing Micheal Keaton's performance and thinking to myself "Wait is Keaton giving probably his best performance I've ever seen in my life? I think he is", because Keaton in this movie pretty much pulls of the best performance I've seen him in his all career. His character in this movie is like a washed up actor who had everything like: the love from the critics and he's fans. Yeah he still dose have that Keaton thing that he always dose in his previous movies, but the scenes where he plays his character (Which is himself if you really look at his character in this movie) but anywhere he still gives a strong and believable performance that at times give me flashbacks of the good old days when he still had roots and felt like he isn't just cashing it in. I hear a lot of Oscar buzz about his performance in this movie, and I wouldn't be surprise if he wins because he totally deserves it. Excellent work Keaton. Edward Norton is also in this movie and played a familiar character to himself has the hard to work with actor that at times doesn't follow the lines that he was given or even the direction he was told. We already know that Norton is a fantastic actor in his previous work, but in this movie his performance could be descried has stellar and insanely good. Emma Stone is this movie and of course like most of the actors I named off so far who were outstanding in this movie and well you can already guess what I'm going to say next. Emma Stone acting in this movie was just terrific and marvellous to watch. It's good to see a real break out performance from her more than the lay back ones in her other movies. Nice one Emma. The other cast in the movie like Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis both did good as well. The whole movie is shot to look like it's all in one shot and my mind was just blown away by that fact. There were scenes in way I said to myself "Oh my god is it one shot?", well I can already imagine the stress, hard work and how many takes they had to do to get it, and boy did it pay off nicely, because I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I dared myself to look away from the beautiful cinematography and the impressive editing used in the film. The movie has a brilliant message about film critics today that doesn't feel like it's in your face message that you normally get in movies. There's a scene in this movie and by the way it's not a spoiler, but I really need to get this out the way first. Micheal Keaton character starts having a rant over this theater critic who is going to give a bad review to he's play when she hasn't even seen it or any of the premieres. He talks about how she only users big words that nobody will say in person and shes to lazy to come up what she really thinks about it so she users big words just to fill in the sentence. This movie probably has the best rant in movie history and Keaton in that scene shows how good of a actor that he is. For problems in the movie: I really don't have any to be honest. I loved this movie and yes I'm coming out be saying that. This isn't just the best movie of the year and such, no this is just flawless film making right here. Birdman and Whiplash are the two films I will highly recommend to people, because those two films are my favorite films of 2014.

mattwilde123

mattwilde123

Mar 9, 2017 · via TMDB

★ 9.0

This film tells the story of an over-the-hill actor called Riggan Thomson (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Keaton) who was once the star of a superhero blockbuster franchise known as 'Birdman'. We are shown his journey into making a Broadway production starting with the initial rehearsals and read-throughs. What follows is a brilliant exploration of celebrity culture in an intriguing and satirical way. 'Birdman' could essentially be looked at as one continuous long shot. The camera constantly weaves around the actors and action and so the audience are completely immersed into the perspectives of the various characters (mostly Riggan's). The opening shot plays like a scene in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Boogie Nights' as it delightfully establishes the narrative in a fluid and polished style whilst introducing the cast and their entertaining interchanges during a rehearsal with hilarious consequences. The editing throughout the picture is almost flawless when moving from scene to scene and has a dizzying effect much like Gasper Noé's 'Irreversible'. 'Birdman' also boasts some marvellous special effects throughout such as when Riggan (Keaton) is alone and being taunted by his egotistical alter-ego. The film shows up typical blockbuster action movies by asking the audience what they want and giving it to them in a manner which embraces the excitement and epic-ness of the genre whilst also poking fun of the conventions. The music that accompanies the film is very scarce in a lot of places adding emphasis to the dialogue and situations arising but, in some cases, an erratic and improvisational drum riff can be heard (occasionally accompanied with the drummer on the set) which completely adds to the eccentricity and spontaneity of the movie. The screenplay is very intricately written and contains many profound philosophical speeches about art, celebrity and criticism. There are monologues and debates by characters in which they discuss the core beliefs of the film such as Riggan's speech during his performance of his Raymond Carver play "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The whole narrative of the film is very intriguing and interesting. There is a perfect blend of comedy and poignancy. There are a lot of twists and ambiguity throughout the film which could be analysed and interpreted for a long time. Michael Keaton is fantastic as the protagonist and gives a performance that would have given his career a huge revival (his squeal is my highlight of the film). The parallels with the character's career and that of Keaton's could not have been a mistake and gives the performance that much more edge. Edward Norton plays the method actor from hell (Mike Shiner). He is annoying, snobbish and smug and played brilliantly by Norton who excels in the vileness and pomposity of the character. The film is very much about actors. The self obsessive nature of acting is definitely highlighted by the two central performances but there is also a cast that really help to deliver the film's meaning such as Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts. Overall, 'Birdman' is a fantastic film. It is filled with pathos and profound imagery whilst keeping the viewer thoroughly entertained throughout. ★★★★½

Dean

Dean

Jun 9, 2016 · via TMDB

★ 1.0

First of all, let me say, I like most of movies where Naomi Watts plays & thought this one would be good too, after all it has high ratings, but don't be fooled by famous actors which play in this movie. Don't be fooled & think that movie is good. No, not at all. This movie is complete junk. It supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't even find it funny. It's just like a big mess. I started watching it & I couldn't last longer than 30 minutes, it was so boring & uninteresting that I fell asleep. I can't believe people rate this movie so high & even worse - this movie won an Oscar. This again proves, that ratings & Oscar ain't always accurate.

T

tmdb39513728

Feb 4, 2015 · via TMDB

**mounting spontaneity** or (dumb luck) It's not fair. I love Raymond Carver, long takes, theatre, Batman, NYC rooftops and alleyways, the blending layers of self-referential fiction, delirious fantasy, the creative process, the insane logistics of run-on cinematography, the seamless assembly of shifting environments, stepping into unresolved mental spaces, demonstrations of solitary madness and the unbearable anticipation of being, being judged, being booed, un-being, unhinging, delusional uppers, existential downers, magic surrealism, telekinetic fury, dreams of flying, throwing tantrums, the fragile yet invincible ego, immaculately constructed chaos, the recurring climax of ending it all -- where the blazes is that blasted improvisational drumming coming from? -- oh there, and there, so absurd, don't stop, the shot must go on, the show must go on, "You are not important, get used to it," she said, but so much angst overwhelms him, tethered to a feathered fantasy, a nagging reminder of what once was, or could have been, refusing to believe it's too late to soar to former heights, yet grounded by time and gravity, trapped in a narrative, caged in a fabrication, "You're an actress, honey," says another, "you have no self-respect" and all actors are game, Keaton and Stone zoned-in, knowing the pain, pretending to not care or pretending to matter, failing to be authentic, acting over acting, meta-acting meta-fiction meta-filmed with a meta-critical message: yeah, we're all messed-up and meta-fµcked, but after shooting your nose to spite the ruse, by unmasking the unexpected virtue of ignorance, peeling off layers of pretense and self-importance, you just might find a momentary strain of pure, uncomplicated innocence. It's not fair. I love this sh*t!

User reviews courtesy of TMDB.

Keywords 19
aging actor alter ego apologetic brisk broadway burlesque city life dark comedy father daughter relationship inner voice magic realism meditative midlife crisis new york city sarcastic show business superhero times square tragic
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Cast 47
Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Riggan

Emma Stone

Emma Stone

Sam

Zach Galifianakis

Zach Galifianakis

Jake

Edward Norton

Edward Norton

Mike

Andrea Riseborough

Andrea Riseborough

Laura

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts

Lesley

Amy Ryan

Amy Ryan

Sylvia

Lindsay Duncan

Lindsay Duncan

Tabitha

Merritt Wever

Merritt Wever

Annie

Jeremy Shamos

Jeremy Shamos

Ralph

Damian Young

Damian Young

Gabriel

Kenny Chin

Kenny Chin

Korean Grocer

Jamahl Garrison-Lowe

Jamahl Garrison-Lowe

Daniel (Stagehand)

Katherine O'Sullivan

Katherine O'Sullivan

Costume Assistant

Natalie Gold

Natalie Gold

Clara

Michael Siberry

Michael Siberry

Larry

Clark Middleton

Clark Middleton

Sydney

William Youmans

William Youmans

Bartender (Tommy)

Paula Pell

Paula Pell

Lady in Bar

David Fierro

David Fierro

Man in Bar

Warren Kelley

Warren Kelley

Dresser

Joel Marsh Garland

Joel Marsh Garland

Stagehand

Brent Bateman

Brent Bateman

Broadway Tourist

Donna Lynne Champlin

Donna Lynne Champlin

Broadway Lady

Valentino Musumeci

Valentino Musumeci

Broadway Kid

Taylor Schwencke

Taylor Schwencke

Broadway Kid

Craig muMs Grant

Craig muMs Grant

Broadway Man on Street

Kyle Knauf

Kyle Knauf

Annoying Times Square Guy

Dave Neal

Dave Neal

Annoying Times Square Guy

Kelly Southerland

Kelly Southerland

Annoying Times Square Guy

Roberta Colindrez

Roberta Colindrez

Broadway Woman on Street

Frank Ridley

Frank Ridley

Mr. Roth

Janis Corsair

Janis Corsair

Female Usher

Rakesh G. Shah

Rakesh G. Shah

Liquor Store Owner

Bill Camp

Bill Camp

Crazy Man

Malachi Weir

Malachi Weir

Guy in Window

Jackie Hoffman

Jackie Hoffman

Lady on Balcony (Mary)

Stephen Adly Guirgis

Stephen Adly Guirgis

Good Neighbor

Glenn Wein

Glenn Wein

Young Male Usher

Ebrahim Jaffer

Ebrahim Jaffer

Cab Driver

Susan Blackwell

Susan Blackwell

Intermission Woman

Anna Hardwick

Anna Hardwick

Blonde Reporter

Dusan Dukic

Dusan Dukic

Newscaster

Helena-Alexis Seymour

Helena-Alexis Seymour

Newscaster

Ian Finlay

Ian Finlay

Newscaster

Paugh Shadow

Paugh Shadow

Theater Guard (uncredited)

Madeline Farbstein

Madeline Farbstein

Lady in the theater

Crew 47
Kevin Thompson

Kevin Thompson

Production Design

Rodrigo Prieto

Rodrigo Prieto

Additional Photography

Emmanuel Lubezki

Emmanuel Lubezki

Director of Photography

Chris Haarhoff

Chris Haarhoff

Steadicam Operator

Atsushi Nishijima

Atsushi Nishijima

Still Photographer

Albert Wolsky

Albert Wolsky

Costume Design

Benjamin Kanes

Benjamin Kanes

Stunt Double

Aja Frary

Aja Frary

Stunts

Blaise Corrigan

Blaise Corrigan

Stunts

Caroline Vexler

Caroline Vexler

Stunts

Christopher Place

Christopher Place

Stunts

Declan Mulvey

Declan Mulvey

Stunts

Drew Leary

Drew Leary

Stunts

George B. Colucci Jr.

George B. Colucci Jr.

Stunts

Heidi Germaine Schnappauf

Heidi Germaine Schnappauf

Stunts

Jeremy Sample

Jeremy Sample

Stunts

Mick O'Rourke

Mick O'Rourke

Stunts

Natalie M. Meyer

Natalie M. Meyer

Stunts

Nicole Callender

Nicole Callender

Stunts

Peter Epstein

Peter Epstein

Stunts

Scott Burik

Scott Burik

Stunts

Shawnna Thibodeau

Shawnna Thibodeau

Stunts

Thomas La Marche

Thomas La Marche

Stunts

Thomas Place

Thomas Place

Stunts

Victor Paguia

Victor Paguia

Stunts

Robert Legato

Robert Legato

Thanks

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Director

Adam Somner

Adam Somner

First Assistant Director

Stephen Mirrione

Stephen Mirrione

Editor

Corey Bayes

Corey Bayes

First Assistant Editor

Alexander Dinelaris

Alexander Dinelaris

Associate Producer

Nicolás Giacobone

Nicolás Giacobone

Associate Producer

Francine Maisler

Francine Maisler

Casting

Christopher Woodrow

Christopher Woodrow

Executive Producer

Sarah E. Johnson

Sarah E. Johnson

Executive Producer

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Producer

Arnon Milchan

Arnon Milchan

Producer

John Lesher

John Lesher

Producer

Aaron Glascock

Aaron Glascock

Sound Designer

Skip Lievsay

Skip Lievsay

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Tom Ozanich

Tom Ozanich

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Ara Khanikian

Ara Khanikian

Visual Effects Supervisor

Robert Legato

Robert Legato

Visual Effects Supervisor

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Writer

Alexander Dinelaris

Alexander Dinelaris

Writer

Armando Bo

Armando Bo

Writer

Nicolás Giacobone

Nicolás Giacobone

Writer

Gallery 215
Videos 19
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Recommended 50
US Release Dates 8

Aug 30, 2014

Telluride Film Festival

Premiere

Oct 11, 2014

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Premiere

Oct 12, 2014

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Premiere

Oct 16, 2014

Philadelphia International Film Festival

Premiere

Oct 17, 2014

R Theatrical (Limited)

Oct 18, 2014

Chicago International Film Festival

Premiere

Oct 23, 2014

FilmColumbia Festival

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Nov 14, 2014

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1978 · 13 wins

#4 Final Destination

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1981 · 11 wins

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