The Big Year

This year has certainly been a lackluster one for comedies. With the extreme exception of a few this year, most have been mediocre at best or I didn't bother because they just looked as though they would be a waste of time. However, with "The Big Year", I got a lot more than I thought I would get out of it.

Three avid bird watchers, technically called birders, Stu Preissler (Steve Martin), Brad Harris (Jack Black) and Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) converge on January 1st to compete in the prestigious event titled 'The Big Year' which runs a calender year whereas the one who spots the most rarest birds in North America wins the title of the champion birder in the world.

However, these guys, while on their trek, face different life crisis'. Stu faces a late-life crisis, Kenny is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, while Brad is wallowing in a no-life crisis.They soon discover , however, that there are more important things than coming out on top of the competition.

Others to round out the cast are Brian Dennehy as Raymond, Brad's dad, JoBeth Williams as Edith, Stu's wife, Dianne Wiest as Brenda, Brad's mom, Kevin Pollack as Jim and Joel McHale as Barry, Stu's associates, Rosamund Pike as Jessica, Kenny's wife, Rashida Jones as Ellie, a fellow birder of Brad's, and Anthony Anderson as Bill Clemont, Brad's boss.

This was incredibly well directed by David Frankel ("The Devil Wears Prada" '06, "Marley & Me" '08, and a ton of TV). His pacing of how he was able to orchestrate the eventual meeting of these guys in a slow but very realistic way was brilliant. It was equally well written by Howard Franklin based on Mark Obmascik's book. The script simply flowed from scene to scene with the greatest of ease.

The photography by Lawrence Sher ("Garden State" '04, "Dan in Real Life" '07, "The Promotion" '08, "I Love You, Man"'09, "The Hangover" '09, "Due Date" '10) was amazing. Along with Murray Close's still photography and Sher's cinematography, the shots of the different rare birds was just breathtaking.

The chemistry between these guys was perfect. Jack Black simply amazes me in that even though he played a 'loser' type character; one of which he's used to playing, he played this character with much more realness to it.

This was a comedy with a dramatic side to it. The humor was powder dry, which, in my opinion, can make it even funnier. If you like pratfall, physical comedy, you probably won't get into this; this, unlike most comedies these days, relies on dialogue to achieve that laugh.

Out of 4 stars: 4                     Rated: PG                         100min.