The Big Year (2011)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I should start that this may contain a few minor spoilers...Fantastic! Enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would, given it was about bird watching. I watched because I absolutely love Steve Martin, he could make any movie likable. In fact, between the entire cast- Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin- they could make even a rubbish story line enjoyable to watch. Only it isn't a rubbish story line, far from it. Each character has their own personal background and story line to move forward with. I just love that it is based on a true story, or at least people who are real, with "a few facts changed," or so it states at the beginning of the movie.They really kept the bird theme going in this movie, between Harris's ring tone on his phone and some of the songs used in between. This movie made bird watching look quite inspiring and really gave a taste of what these bird watchers endure and how they feel doing it. I had no idea it was like that. Amazing! I love how they highlighted the different species of birds. I loved the owl scene with Harris and his dad in the snow.The end is absolute perfection. I nearly cried it was so meaningful. Not often that happens for me, if ever! I love that no one died (for a change!) and even Bostwick had a closure that he deserved, but still showed a likable character in the end.Brilliant performances from each of the actors, but I wouldn't expect anything less from this cast! Will definitely be watching this again.

I had higher expectations of this movie. First of all, it's classified as comedy when it's not. The three big stars, Martin, Wilson and Black can do a better comedy than this. I do not object to the idea of being a birdie geek, because everyone is a geek somehow. I had expected the three stars to be more into birds' life. I had expected to see more lovely, fascinating birds that I had never seen before. But that just didn't happen. It was kinda shallow. Just a group of guys go after birds wherever they are to win the title 'Birder of The Year'. As simple as it might sound, it could have been fancier on screen with much more effort. It's still OK to watch. Actually better than a lot of movies - Just don't expect much out of it. It's not comedy. If there's a message to be told in this movie, it's that there's a price you have to pay in order to get what you want. It sends out a message to those who waste their lives going after their pleasure , without paying attention to other important things in their lives.

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

This my kind of film. Well done with an original story, based on script and character. I a big Steve Martin fan. I pretty much liked everything he has ever done. The whole story line with him and Owen Wilson and Jack Black works really well together as does the rest of the supporting players who have smaller roles. It's not a slapstick comedy - it's a clever comedy. It also takes a look at peoples lives - Three men, all from radically different backgrounds but all have their own home situations. I thought it was clever how they wove this story based around bird watching into what it is. It also has a lot of great scenic photography from around the country which is nice to see. It is now on my 'favorites' list.