The Big Year - Film Review
Aug. 11th, 2013 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinished watching The Big Year on HBO. This was a little movie, that debuted with luke-warm critical reviews and little fan-fare back in 2011. It starred Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black - and was advertised as a "big comedy" when in truth it is a heart-warming tale about three men competing for the title of Bird Watcher of the Year. The birder who clocks the most birds, wins watcher of the year. The three vying for the title are Stu, Brad Harris, and Bostwick.
Bostwick (Owen Wilson) is the record holder and fears someone taking his titles, meanwhile his wife is struggling to have a child. Stu, the CEO of a fortune five hundred company in the midst of a take-over, wants to retire finally and go for the big year bird watcher record. Then there's Brad Harris, stuck in a job that he hates and divorced - who just wants to accomplish something - and he's obsessed with bird watching and obtaining that big year.
The film follows the three men in the pursuit of birds across the US. We see all sorts of birds, and watch as Stu and Brad form a friendship, Brad finds love, and Bostwick's marriage deteriorates as he increasingly puts birding over everything.
The movie does not have laugh out loud moments...which may be why the critics didn't praise it, but it is comforting and compelling. In particular the friendship between Stu and Brad, and Brad's character is one that you find yourself rooting for throughout.
Also there's lots of great birds show-cased throughout. I'd call it a happy movie, with the caveat that it can be depressing if you don't have the family and friends both Brad and Stu are blessed with. Like most Hollywood flicks of this trope - the film assumes that finding these things is easy, its not. That said, much like Silver Linings Playbook - the film is a hopeful one, one that shows that you life can change and unexpected things can happen when you are pursuing a dream whatever it may be. Doesn't matter if you win, the competition means little, it's the attempt that matters...and who you meet and how you play.
Bostwick (Owen Wilson) is the record holder and fears someone taking his titles, meanwhile his wife is struggling to have a child. Stu, the CEO of a fortune five hundred company in the midst of a take-over, wants to retire finally and go for the big year bird watcher record. Then there's Brad Harris, stuck in a job that he hates and divorced - who just wants to accomplish something - and he's obsessed with bird watching and obtaining that big year.
The film follows the three men in the pursuit of birds across the US. We see all sorts of birds, and watch as Stu and Brad form a friendship, Brad finds love, and Bostwick's marriage deteriorates as he increasingly puts birding over everything.
The movie does not have laugh out loud moments...which may be why the critics didn't praise it, but it is comforting and compelling. In particular the friendship between Stu and Brad, and Brad's character is one that you find yourself rooting for throughout.
Also there's lots of great birds show-cased throughout. I'd call it a happy movie, with the caveat that it can be depressing if you don't have the family and friends both Brad and Stu are blessed with. Like most Hollywood flicks of this trope - the film assumes that finding these things is easy, its not. That said, much like Silver Linings Playbook - the film is a hopeful one, one that shows that you life can change and unexpected things can happen when you are pursuing a dream whatever it may be. Doesn't matter if you win, the competition means little, it's the attempt that matters...and who you meet and how you play.