Michael Keaton stars in Alejandro González Iñárritu's new drama "Birdman". The story follows Keaton's character Riggan Thompson, an aging actor whose carred has declined since his days of playing an on-screen superhero. He decides to put his life, career and family back on track through a Broadway play. Co-starring Keaton is Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone and Edward Norton.
The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and has received positive reviews from the critics. Selected reviews for Birdman are shown below (via screen rant):
Daily Telegraph - Robbie Collin:
"'Birdman' isn't much like anything else at all. Think 'Black Swan' directed by Mel Brooks and you're in the vicinity, but only just... This is a phenomenal start to this year's Mostra: grand, spectacular, star-powered cinema that makes us ask anew what cinema is for. Call it a Dark Knight of the soul."
Screen Daily - Mark Adams:
"If Michael Keaton is very much the moving, complex and troubled face of 'Birdman,' there is no getting away from the sheer polish and precision that Alejandro González Iñárritu has brought to the film. The pure sense of control - working in beautiful tandem with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki - is astounding, with the film likely to feature strongly when awards are being handed out."
TheWrap - Alonso Duralde:
"Putting aside [its] baseless and infantile loathing of the critic class, 'Birdman' is an often intelligent and unpredictable look at actors, loving their spontaneity and creativity glossing over their emotional needs and volatility. Riggan is so consumed with self-doubt that he often hears the voice of Birdman in his head, telling him to abandon this artsy-fartsy stage business so he can return to the screen for the 'apocalyptic pornography' that global audiences crave."
Birdman hits U.S. theaters on October 17, 2014.
