The Big Year / Rated PG for naked birds everywhere.
Every now and then filmmakers find themselves in a real dilemma. How to market a film. Especially a movie with an arcane subject. Here is what they do. Try to sell a movie that they think the general public wants to see but is not the film they made. The previews I have seen for The Big Year seem to be selling a lame pratfall filled comedy of manly competition. I recall a scene from the preview that is not even in the movie. Basically they have invested big bucks and now are in serious doubts they can get their money back let alone make a profit.
The arcane subject of TBY is bird watching. I know about as much about bird watching as I do about the theories of Einstein. All I know for sure is that most of them can fly and many of them taste very good. The three stars of TBY are Jack Black as a 36 year old hard working but obsessed birder. He is also the films narrator. Steve Martin plays the older birder trying to retire from his mega billion dollar company so he can spend more time looking through binoculars. Owen Wilson plays the Worlds Champion Birder with a one year record of 733 sightings. I am pretty sure I have seen at least 4 different ones but I wouldn’t swear to it. SM and JB decide they want to have a Big Year and break the OW record. He decides not to let them.
Traveling is a must for Birders. And travel they do. While filmed in Atlanta, Miami and Canada the location subtitles indicate a much wider range of travel. They guys will do anything to spot a new species. Skipping meals, ignoring family and even passing up a Super Bowl is not beyond their desire to spot the most birds.
Adding to the story are vet actors Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, JoBeth Williams and Anjelica Huston. Theodore Shapiro adds a Big score which adds the right touch of adventure to the Big outdoors on display.
The preview misrepresents this film in an effort to sell it to us. What they really need to hope for is word of mouth. I, for one, am here to open mine up and tell you this is a neat film. The humor is low key and most of the pratfall jokes in the preview seem out of place and unnecessary. This is a movie about obsession and sacrifice. It’s also about friendship and relationships. If you want to be a champion birder you have to be willing to sacrifice a lot. By the films end TBY shows what the main three characters are willing to give up and what they learn from their Big Year. I learned a lot about birds. My next visit to KFC will be much different than my last one. The main thing this film has are great performances by the three main characters. By films end I really liked and admired all of them.
Back in 2000 I went to a film that I didn’t expect much but turned out to be a big surprise. Minnie Driver starred in the Bonnie Hunt movie Return to Me. It was beautifully written, funny and wonderfully human. The Big Year is the same experience except with feathers.
Rated 3.5 out of 4.0 Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers. Maybe they had Blue Bellies. Maybe not. They flew away in a big hurry.