Michael Keaton plays a fading actor best known for a popular superhero. In Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), he tries to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. The film runs 120 minutes. It is a drama and a comedy, and its tagline asks a plain question: “How did we end up here?”
Trailer, via SearchlightPictures.
Riggan, Sam and the Broadway Play
Alejandro G. Iñárritu directed Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and wrote it with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo. The story follows Riggan, played by Keaton, as opening night approaches. He wants to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family. The film states plainly that all three prove more difficult than expected.
That is the engine of the thing. A man who once wore a cape now stands in a theater, and the play is supposed to fix what the superhero broke. Emma Stone plays Sam. Zach Galifianakis plays Jake. Edward Norton plays Mike. Andrea Riseborough plays Laura. Naomi Watts plays Lesley. Amy Ryan plays Sylvia. Lindsay Duncan plays Tabitha. Merritt Wever plays Annie. Jeremy Shamos plays Ralph. Damian Young plays Gabriel. Kenny Chin plays the Korean Grocer.
What the Cast Carries
The cast is the reason to watch. Keaton holds the center as Riggan, a man whose fame came from one role and whose attempt to leave it behind costs him more than he planned. Norton’s Mike and Stone’s Sam give the film its friction. Galifianakis, known for comedy, plays Jake, and the film uses that familiarity without leaning on it.
The tagline — “How did we end up here?” — is not decoration. It is the question every character in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is quietly answering. Riggan asks it about his career. The people around him ask it about him.
The Numbers Behind Birdman
Key facts:
– Release year: 2014
– Runtime: 120 minutes
– Genres: Drama, Comedy
– Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
– Writers: Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, Armando Bo
– TMDB audience score: 7.4/10
– TMDB vote count: 13,815
Two Ways to Read the Same Story
The film works on two levels, and the table below sets them side by side. One is the plot the synopsis describes. The other is what the film is actually about.
| Element | The surface story | The deeper story |
|---|---|---|
| Riggan | A fading actor mounting a comeback | A man trying to become more altruistic |
| The play | A Broadway production before opening night | A test of whether he can rebuild his career |
| The superhero role | What made him famous | What he cannot escape |
| Friends and family | People he wants to reconnect with | People the attempt proves harder to reach |
| The tagline | A question about his career | A question about all of them |
The table matters because Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) refuses to pick one reading. The synopsis says Riggan’s attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected. That word — expected — is doing the work. He expected the play to solve something. It does not.
Where the Film Lands
Here is the part worth watching. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is funnier than its premise suggests and sadder than its comedy allows. The 120 minutes move. The cast is deep enough that no single performance has to carry the whole thing, which is rare for a film built around one man’s comeback.
The weakness is the same as the strength. A film about a man who cannot stop performing risks becoming a performance itself. When the movie leans on the superhero motif, it gets loud. When it sits with Riggan and Sam, or Riggan and Sylvia, it gets quiet and better.
The TMDB audience score sits at 7.4/10 across 13,815 votes. That is a fair read. This is a good film with a great cast, and it knows exactly what question it is asking. It does not always know when to stop asking it.
The tagline is the whole review. “How did we end up here?” Riggan cannot answer it. Neither can the people around him. The film’s answer, such as it is, is that you end up here by chasing the thing that made you famous and finding out it was never the thing you wanted.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) earns its place as a 2014 drama-comedy that takes its own premise seriously. Keaton, Stone, Norton and the rest give it a pulse. The script gives it a question. The 120 minutes give it room.
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