The Big Year (2011)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Blistering performances.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Three men pursue the Birder of the Year title: Kenny Bostick, Stu Preissler and Brad Harris, who narrates the story. Life gets in the way: Bostick's wife wants a baby, Stu's firm needs him for sensitive negotiations, and Brad, divorced and underemployed at 36, has an encouraging mom and a disapproving dad. They criss-cross the continent, follow migration patterns, and head for storms that force birds to ground. The Big Year is a film that elevates mostly from Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black's involvement but it's also a very good comedy with some heartful moments and a terrific cast in general that fans of the 3 actors but people who want to see a comedy in general will enjoy. (A+)

The Big Year (2011): Dir: David Frankel / Cast: Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Brian Dennehy, Rashida Jones: This is a film for every nature, and especially, bird lover. It regards one's passion as three males compete in bird watching for an entire year. Steve Martin is anticipating retirement even though his employees restrain him with business demands but his heart is away from work and into sighting the most birds. Jack Black feels discouraged by his father when he pursues bird watching over a career. Owen Wilson is the champion bird watcher who is having commitment issues when his wife desires a baby. This film is not as funny as perhaps it could be, but it sustains a likable cast and great shots of nature and various bird species. Director David Frankel scored with The Devil Wears Prada, and even though this film is inferior, it goes opposite to its characters being career motivated. Martin's character befriends Black while anticipating becoming a grandfather back home. At one point he misses one of the flights out but ultimately scores big in other areas. Black longs to be a birding champion but he hasn't lost his passion for it. Wilson uses distracting methods to sway both parties away from breaking his record. Supporting roles are unfortunately cardboard including Brian Dennehy as Black's father suffering through heart issues. Rashida Jones is featured as an amateur bird watcher who strikes up a friendship with Black. We are never sure who wins until the end, and the winner only wins by losing elsewhere. It proves that hobbies can suffice when they do not dominate your life. Score: 8 ½ / 10

Surprisingly because, although the cast is a very talented one, the bird-watching subject is interesting and comedy dramas are enjoyable when done right, the trailer wasn't particularly very promising and there were the worries of whether anything interesting would be made regarding bird-watching, whether the cast would be well-used and the dangers of the comedy forgetting to be funny or the drama to be too sentimental or both.The Big Year is not a perfect film, with the odd predictable part, some pedestrian pacing and for personal tastes some of the historical montage narration was a little irritating and not always necessary despite it being well-delivered by John Cleese. However it is much better than the trailer suggests, in all honesty trailers rarely do their films justice with the trailer being misleading or bad and the film actually being good(the case with The Big Year). The bird-watching subject is dealt with thoughtfully and mostly engagingly if imperfectly, as well as handled with a gentle tone and uplifting at the end. And the script and story do just fine in the comedy and drama. Sure the comedy is not laugh-out-funny which will disappoint people, but it's gentle, droll humour instead of the crude, broad humour that it could easily have been, and the approach worked and would have suited the film and story much better in the first place. The drama hits the right note too, there's always a danger in comedy dramas or dramas for the dramatic parts to be over-sentimental, but in my opinion The Big Year did not fall into that trap with it being very poignant and hopeful.It's very beautifully filmed too with strikingly picturesque locations, it is nicely directed and the music from Theodore Shapiro does a good job matching the film's gentle tone. The characters are sympathetically drawn and played, there's a danger always in comedy drama to have a character that's annoying or window-dressing and none of those are present in The Big Year. The acting is strong and no time is wasted on making full use of what makes the actors talented. Steve Martin's comic timing is as smooth as silk, Jack Black while broad at times is thankfully more subtle than usual and Owen Wilson while not quite as memorable is amiably likable. Luckily they are treated equally by the writers instead of one outweighing the others They are well-supported by an as ever elegant Anjelica Huston, an as always stellar Dianne Wiest and a radiant and sympathetic Rosamund Pike. To me The Big Year was not lacking in chemistry or tension.Overall, The Big Year is not perfect but it's a surprisingly good and well done film, that is far better than it was advertised to be. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The idea for THE BIG YEAR sounds fascinating; the fact that people spend most of their time and energy trying to spot as many birds as possible during a calendar year offers fascinating possibilities for the exploration of obsession, as well as including some wonderful footage of the birds themselves.While David Frankel's film manages to fulfill the second requirement, it fails notably on the first. Rather than exploring the characters of its three protagonists (Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Steve Martin), it relapses into a familiar tale of the ugly duckling with little money (Black) taking on the big boys (Wilson, Martin) in the Big Year competition. No one is initially prepared to admit that they are actually participating; but when they do, Black and Martin form an alliance against the cocky, arrogant Wilson, who believes that he is obviously the best, his position unchallengeable.THE BIG YEAR includes some stunning photography - by Lawrence Sher - as well as some picture-postcard views of various locations in the United States. On the whole, however, the picture descends into sentimentality, especially in its depiction of the relationship between Black's character and his crusty father (Brian Dennehy), or the way in which Martin's character becomes so human that he is prepared to give up an opportunity to become the president of 3M worldwide. The ending is wearily predictable, although there are a few incidental laughs along the way.