Ignorance is Bliss.

Where the fuck has Michael Keaton been? I thought he'd received the Mark-Paul Gosselaar treatment with rumours of his demise, or his abduction by sex aliens. But, in actuality, the former Batman has been working on his comeback in a movie which is causing a right old stir come award season. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a huge triumph, artistically. Directed in the same ilk as a Broadway production unfolding before its audience with set changes and uninterrupted scenes; its documentary inspired camera work is a stroke of genius by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Biutiful) who has conceived a way in which we follow Riggan Thomson's rise back towards the limelight. 

Having played Marvel's titular superhero in years previous, Riggan (Michael Keaton) is attempting to re-enter the acting world by financing his own Broadway production of Raymond Carver's short story "What we talk about when we talk about love", produced by his Between Two Ferns best friend and lawyer, Jake (Zach Galifianakis). 
Riggan has put it all on the line to reignite the success of his earlier years as winged superhero, Birdman, but is instead haunted by the imaginary persona of the beaked superhero incarnate. The winged manifestation pulling at his strings of insecurity like a deranged puppeteer is gripping (what with his hauntingly bad ass costume which for some incomprehensible reason I wished I myself was wearing in the theatre). He leads Keaton to believe that he has the ability to fly and can tele-kinetically break, smash and hurl inanimate objects, which the strategically planned 
steadi-cam work captures brilliantly.

Which brings me to the casts performances. This is a group of actors who have gripped their roles by the plums having clearly read the script and fallen head over heels for the roles in which they'd been gifted. Edward Norton plays the narcissistic, capricious method acting Mike Shiner who steals every scene in which he's present. Cool, utterly egotistical and barren of all logical emotion away from the stage, he moseys arrogantly in to Riggan's production, sweeps in on the his daughter; the vulnerable, quintessentially privileged yet rife with daddy issues, Sam (Emma Stone)and portrays the epitome of what we all imagine a 'massive theatre wanker' looks and acts like. He's fabulous.

It was also enlightening to see Naomi Watts playing her role as Lesley; the budding actor/ Norton's bit on the side, desperate for a break in the acting world which she feels she's earned what with all the shagging around and conveying all the idiosyncrasies and lust for approval you'd expect from an ageing thespian. Her comical back and fourths with Keaton and Norton are profoundly entertaining and taking a back seat in a supporting role gives Watts far more room to have fun, making each of her scenes pop from the screen.

Keaton though, is a revelation. This was the role he was born to play. Forget your Dark Knights and your Beetlejuice's (which subsequently has a sequel on its way!) - he owns this shit! And by shit, I mean behemoth of a performance. The psychological battles he faces with his imaginary ego, the stage productions success/ failure, his ex-wife and loose cannon of a daughter as well as the incredibly vivid exchanges with Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan) who is THE voice of New York's theatre critics scene, are mesmerising. It puts in to perspective just how convoluted, unethical and corrupt the entertainment world might be so candidly, it'll leave you wondering just how much cash may in fact have been exchanged to let Robert Pattinson anywhere near a film set #LOLZ 

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is such an exciting, forward thinking film which tells the story of a man clawing his way back from a land that time forgot. A tale which somewhat resonates the career of Michael Keaton making it all the more believable. Whether it be the fantastically percussion laced interstitial's or the electric performances of the small cast & ensemble; credit must go where its due for the director and the production team who have seamlessly managed to bridge the gap between film, theatre and modern art and in my opinion, it deserves all the nominations under the sun. It's also better than 74% of Marvel's other movies. Fact.

Birdman receives 4/5 Macho Man Randy Savages because it confirms that running through Times Square in your Y-fronts just got cool again...