There’s only one true villain in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s reflexive, dark satire of fame, superhero franchises, and artistic torment, Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance: Tabitha (Lindsay Duncan), a powerful, cranky theater critic who’s determined to sink an off-Broadway production written/directed/produced/starring Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) sight unseen because she hates celebrities. Yet despite the film’s negative portrayal of the critical profession, Birdman continues to impress audiences and reviewers alike. It’s already taken home Best Feature and Best Actor at the 24th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, and leads the Boston and Washington D.C. Film Critics’ Polls.
Writing for Film Comment’s Essential Films, David Fear notes its diverse appeal:
Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is many things: a backstage farce, a satire of media ubiquity, a portrait of career resurrection that’s enabled its star and director to effect their own professional resuscitations, a drama about squandered potential. But what this extraordinary work does best—indeed, better than most films about the emotional void of show business—is drop us into the mind of an actor beset by insecurities, vanity-project hubris, and that inner critic who simply won’t shut up, whisking us up into a dazzling, dizzyingly subjective whirlwind.
