The movie Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) shows a side of Michael Keaton that not many have seen before. Keaton played Batman in the Burton films in 1989 and 1992, and because of Keaton’s struggles after his role in the Batman films the film Birdman makes fun of this by showing Keaton in the similar role Birdman. A dark comedy, it will appeal to Broadway and movie fans alike.

Riggan (Keaton) has lived in the shadow of his most famous character Birdman for the later part of his career. He is tormented by the fact that people will always think of him of that and not for any of his other films or productions. Riggan attempts to change this. Riggan has been developing a Broadway play for some time now. It is going horribly wrong: one of the actors is nearly killed by a falling stage light. At this point Riggan wants to bring in a new actor, an experienced veteran of the Broadway stage. He decides to bring in Mike (Edward Norton) to bring fresh life to the show. Mike is an excellent actor, but he must dive deep into a character to make it really good. This is very different from Riggan’s approach to his part, described as a movie actor not a Broadway one, which leads to much sparring between Mike and Riggan. As time runs out before opening night, the audience is left to wonder if they will be able to put on the amazing show that they envisioned or if it will be a massive flop.

Keaton and Norton are both fantastic in their roles. Some have described Norton as playing himself in the role while Keaton is playing his polar opposite. It is fantastic blend of the Broadway stage and the silver screen; portraying the differences between the two. Though the characters are not developed extremely well, it gives the viewer a small window into these intriguing characters’ lives.

The witty humor and the long drawn out shots make the film. Any movie that can sprinkle in humor when it is needed and has a developed plot follows the formula for a great movie in my book. Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu keeps the shots in the movie long, leaving little room for error in filmography. A signature of director Alejandro González Iñárritu, the amount of difficulty that it is to shoot in this form just shows the lengths the actors went to create a wonderful movie. The film is starting to receive major buzz as award season quickly approaches.