Review: Birdman
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
City Paper grade: B
More tour de force than coup du cinéma, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s psychotropic psychodrama spelunks into the soul of a washed-up action star (Michael Keaton) attempting to reinvent himself by staging Raymond Carver on Broadway. Although it shifts time frames and its relationship to reality, the movie, shot by Gravity’s Emmanuel Lubezki, gives the appearance of being filmed in a single take. But the cinematography’s the only place where the seams don’t show. It’s clever as all get-out — and thrilling, in a superficial way — but rarely stumbles onto real insight.
