The Big Year

I thought it was refreshing that this was one movie that DIDN'T have much conflict (aside from them going after Owen Wilson's character, that is). Throw in too much conflict in a birding movie, and you quickly tip right over into caricature. It's not the most ruthless pursuit, after all. This stayed the right side of the line.

Interesting characters should always keep the audience engaged, whether the stakes are particularly high, or not.

If you have too many 'moments', then you have formula, and a certain number of beats to be hit, instead of just a story.

I do agree that Steve Martin's character needed a little more shift in his circumstances, from the beginning to where he found himself at the end, but the other two leads had plenty of revelation in their lives - they just didn't make an undue fuss about it.

I didn't expect a birding movie to rock my world in terms of excitement… but the characters were sympathetic and pleasant, which is not something you can say about a lot of modern comedy.

This is not a comedy, but it doesn't mean its not a good movie. Its quite a shame that this is classified as a comedy when its clearly not, its not even about the birds.This is a film about relationships, and how those relationships are affected during this time of the big year, Its a very light hearted film with a dramatic undertone.

Its teaches us about life, and that it's a journey, not a competition. It shows the sacrifices people can make to achieve their dreams & the journey of these three men that find more than just birds on this adventure.

Some beautiful landscapes throughout this movie and beautiful birds... this is worth a watch but take it as it is. and not a laugh out loud comedy 7/10.

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

I confess that I cannot represent the following as an entirely objective, nor representative assessment of the quality of "The Big Year". How often does one of the early scenes in a film almost identically replicate an incident in the viewer's life? My introduction to the peculiar world of birding was in the late 1990s at Patagonia State Park in Southern Arizona. We had unsuspectingly selected a camping location that was noted for hosting an enormous variety of birds, and were awakened one morning by a small army of odd looking characters hell-bent on confirming the first reported sighting of the Nutting flycatcher in the United States in several decades. Out of curiosity we joined the chase, and the rest is family history, eerily duplicated by the makers of this film. What followed were many years of exercise, pleasure and reward for one of life's most interesting avocations.

So... how could I not enjoy this fine effort at mixing the allure of this strange "sport" with a thoughtful exploration of human motivation and conflicted choices. I can understand why the faithful fans of Black, Martin and Wilson might be disappointed with this production. But I, for one, have grown infinitely weary of too many superficial, sophomoric attempts at humor through these three capable actors. I was encouraged to see the restraint and depth that they could bring to these characters which provided the necessary credibility for this otherwise improbable tale. The film maintains a near perfect balance of humor, drama, and suspense in a well paced, engaging and uplifting plot. The spectacular photography of an abundance of aesthetically appealing locations is an added bonus.

I count it a big plus when I can walk out of the movie with that "feel good" elation that comes from a pleasant and interesting evening's entertainment. My heart said give it an eight or nine, but my never-ending quest for realistic objectivity resulted in the understated seven. Unless you are of the set that requires demolition derbies and frat humor for your entertainment, go see it. You'll have a good time.

As a long time birdwatcher and Steve Martin fan, I watched "The BIg Year" with keen interest and an eye for the details. Having birded quite extensively in the US, I think I am qualified to give this a very thorough review!

To start things off, this is a story about three talented birders - one young hotshot (Owen Wilson), one budding hotshot (Jack Black), and one old guy (Steve Martin) - competing against one another to see who can list the most birds in North America in one calendar year. The action starts on Jan 1, and right off the bat, birds, or "ticks", start to go up on everyone's lists. A siting here, a siting there, and with a little scientific narration, we're off and running Thankfully, we also see a running tally of each birder's totals frequently as the movie progresses.

And then the various subplots and scenarios kick in as the race heats up. These subplots revolve around each birder and his normal life outside of his hobby with the idea being to show you what kind of sacrifices are involved in doing a big year. OK, nice idea, but only one of these really works for me, though - the one involving Jack and his dad, played by Brian Dennehy. Good work there - both believable and touching. But otherwise, the subplots were predictable and added little to the main story. I did enjoy, though, the one scene where expert birder Ken Bostick is making love to his wife while news reports of a "fallout" of migrants on the Texas coast is broadcast. That was probably the funniest moment in the entire film. Anyway, and then as the race heats up, more plot unfolds. Part of doing a big year is to not let others know you are doing one. Thats to lessen any chance of all out warfare among listers. Also, you can form alliances and team up with others along the way if your goal is to stop the top dog, the favorite expected to tally the most birds in the end.

But overall, a big year is not all that unlike it was portrayed in the film making allowances for Hollywood invention, etc. Things can get a bit crazy. The level of competition is such that ordinary people will sometimes do extraordinarily expensive, unethical, or just plain stupid things to see a bird. I liked that the film delved into this a bit, as each actor seemed fairly believable as a competitive birder, with enough scheming and conniving behavior thrown in to give you a feel for what a big year can really be like.

And now on to the movie from a scientific point of view: I'd rate the scientific accuracy of the birding lore here fairly highly at times. In particular, the culture on Attu, Alaska was a lot like I have read (I have never been). But at other times, inexplicably, science gave way to whatever seemed to suit someones idea of a good plot twist best. For example, THe great spotted woodpecker siting in Oregon was pure fantasy - Woodpeckers do not migrate much and this is an Asian species. Other birds like the pink footed Goose and Grey Owl were located in habitat unsuitable for them in real life. And then there was the trek to High Island in Texas, which really amused me because of how they hyped it up - I mean as the scene unfolds, tens of thousands of birds are shown filling the air like you only see on the duck and geese refuges. Very funny....:)

But here's what I kept wanting to see more of though - first off - more moving, beautifully photographed scenery (a la "Winged Migration", perhaps). Kudo's to the Bald Eagle mating scene which almost brought me to tears. But also - more science. A big year is more than about going to Texas and Attu in the spring. What about the Fall migration? The winter migrants? A big year strategy will take in all 12 months, and with each season, new birds become possible as the landscape changes. One could have been given a better sense for how the different seasons affect the distribution of birds and thus the fortunes of someone attempting to do a big year.

But in the end here, its all about the competition mixed with a little comedy. And as the days wind down and the winter months approach, big years often end up with some really crazy, last minute cross country treks to see late breaking hot birds. But here? - both the competition and the comedy sort of fizzle out in the end. The conclusion is pretty anti-climactic unlike a lot of real life big years I've read about. We cheer the ultimate winner, but even the losers wind up winning something in a small way - a feel good ending which at least keeps you from walking away disappointed that your favorite comedic actor did not get the top prize.

In conclusion, "the big year" is a fast paced adventure which does a fairly decent job of portraying the birdwatching culture and particularly those that are into competitive listing. Birding is also fallow ground for comedy though, but sadly, despite the appearance of Steve Martin, the film is only given a light comedic touch there. Steve's performance is very understated. Thankfully though, there is enough scientific meat, nice scenery and decent performances from the others to pull it off. Owen Wilson as Ken Bostick is perfect as the arrogant hot shot, while Jack Black does a nice job as the conniving but big hearted wannabe. So, but overall, maybe ditch or reduce two out of the three subplots, build to a bigger climax, and add more scenery shots and I'd have given this a much better review.