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.
