Yesterday we went to see Birdman by Alejandro Inarritu, starring Michael Keaton and Ed Norton.  The movie came highly rated (IMDb 8.8, metascore 89) and was creative, funny, and original.  Nonetheless, I came away wanting more.

The movie is about a washed-up movie actor whose claim to fame was a stint as a superhero called Birdman.  He is now launching a new Broadway play, a psychological story about the interplay between two couples, and the production is beset with infighting and emotional dramas.  One gets the feeling that this is an accurate depiction of life in the theatre, which makes the movie appealing.  The story goes through several unexpected twists, which I will not reveal here.  The ending is enigmatic and provocative of thought, though not too much.

Michael Keaton is one of my favorite actors, Gung Ho (1986) being my favorite performance of his.  He is accessible as a “regular guy” who gets put into ridiculous, often humiliating situations and must somehow come through them with some shred of dignity intact.  The movie starts with him aged and with thin scraggly hair, going into his dressing room and taking off a wig which reveals even thinner, more scraggly hair.  I thought this was a hilarious depiction of someone fending off the aging process.

The rest of the cast performed admirably as well.  Ed Norton as the egotistical jerk Broadway star, Emma Stone as Keaton’s rebellious daughter, Zach Galifianakis as his producer and lawyer.  All of their characters were cleanly and humorously portrayed.

My problem with this movie is that I saw no message.  Themes like the chaos of the show business world, dealing with aging, and the ridiculous egotism which comes with fame are explored skillfully and with a light touch, but when the final surprises are unfolded there is a “so what” feeling.  All of the show’s assets do not add up to a revelation, a lesson, or a moral.

Of course, not all stories are required to have a moral.  But somehow, this one seems to promise one, and then not deliver it.

It’s worth seeing.  Perhaps it suffered from its high marks.  I would give it a 6.5.