From the trailers I've seen, I fully expected The Big Year to be a flop. Owen Wilson,
Jack Black, and Steve Martin just seemed like a really bad combination to me.
Amazingly, it all works really well.
The Big Year
follows three birders through an entire year, each striving to have seen the
most North American bird species. The plot might seem a little flimsy and odd,
but somehow it comes together well. Despite this film's label as a comedy,
there are other aspects to it that defy that categorization.
Many comedies flit from punch line to punch line in an
effort to entertain the audience while lacking any real plot or purpose aside
from being a series of jokes. The Big
Year, while clearly humorous, has a sort of moral to the story that
elevates it to a different plane of comedy film, which is typical of the
director, David Frankel. His directing style sticks to his usual format, which
may seem formulaic on his part, but it definitely works with this script and actors.
Owen Wilson portrays a very convincing jerk, with Steve Martin and Jack Black
being the seemingly more approachable characters. Each has his own individual
struggle that the film focuses on, but no one character is singled out exclusively.
The film is about birding, but nothing is so specific that it's
difficult to understand without previous knowledge. The script is well written and
provides the necessary information of birding to make sense to anyone. The Big Year manages to poke fun at the
sport without actually making fun of it, which is an interesting line to dance.
The locations used are beautiful, and it is fascinating to see the variety of
birds in North America. But the
science never overshadows the comedy.
I think this film will appeal to everyone, in part thanks to
it's PG rating. It's not a film that clearly caters to the college crowd, so if
you need a film for everyone, The Big
Year fits the bill. The technical aspects are on par with the writing,
making this a very well-rounded and an almost surprising success.
