I think this movie proves to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that just because you like an actor it doesn't mean you're going to like everything they do. Now, I'm not one of those jackwads that scream betrayal the moment an artist does something different. It's one thing to be a fan of someone's comedy/music/writing, it's another thing to be the one doing it. Sometimes I can't play a 40 hour video game that I actually like without getting bored and wandering off for weeks at a time. Imagine having to do the same damn thing all day every day? Yet another metal set? Yet another comedy routine? Shit, how many times can I fall over on cue before I just don't wanna get up again?
The best thing that we, as fans, can do is hope that we like the artist's new project. I enjoyed Adam Sandler's turn at drama in Punch Drunk Love. I really liked when Robin Williams went creepy-dramatic in One Hour Photo. I didn't so much like Linkin Park's descent into incomprehensible pseudo-reggae. I know it's hit and miss.
Fortunately for me, I like all three lead actors in The Big Year. Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin are all at different stages of their careers, but they've all tried to do different things now and then, and that doesn't bother me. Good for them. The downside is that this time, I don't think 'different' necessarily means 'good.'
On to the review!
First off, I just want to let you know that this movie is perfectly okay. Absolutely, positively serviceable. There is nothing offensive or upsetting or crazy or scary or even vaguely interesting in The Big Year. In fact, it is a giant, mildly entertaining void that will fill 100 minutes of your life. Hell, I'll go one step farther and claim that this is the absolute safest first date movie I have ever seen. Especially if your significant other really likes birds!
What, didn't you know that? The Big Year is built entirely around birding. That's what a big year is: when someone tries to see as many birds in North America as possible from January 1st to December 31st.
Aaaaand, there's your plot.
Both Jack Black (Brad) and Steve Martin (Stu) have decided to do a big year, but reigning champion Owen Wilson (Kenny Bostick) is an absolutely bird-obsessed and winning-obsessed individual who just, y'know, tries to see a few hundred birds before May just to scare off any possible competition. Just like any other well-adjusted individual.
The difference between Brad and Stu is that Brad is a schlubby middle-aged man who hates his job and has no savings while Stu is a newly-retired corporate millionaire who wants to take a stab at the big year before he's just too old to do it. Bostick, meanwhile, is on his third (fourth? eighth?) wife because he treats every year as a big year until he's certain nobody is trying to challenge his world record.
There you have it. The entire plot. Of course, there's some betrayal, there's some goofy shit, there's some drama and comedy lots and lots of birds. The problem is that nobody is really trying. It's just weird to see Jack Black play a normal guy (although they do have him fall over a few times just to remind you that 'Hey look, it's that funny chubby guy that falls down!'). It was during his second or third ass-plant that I began to wonder if this is what we would have been seeing Chris Farley or John Belushi doing in their late 30's or early 40's had they calmed down and gotten off the drugs.
The women in this movie are just there because to be nothing but guys would be even weirder than a movie built around bird watching. Stu's wife is supportive and misses him, Brad is just trying to get a girl and Bostick's seventeenth wife is getting fertility treatments and hoping her husband knocks it the hell off and tries to become a father.
You can absolutely predict where everything is going. Again, there is nothing at all dangerous in this PG film. The only thing I really liked was Owen Wilson's character. Though he never loses his typical Owen Wilson charm, it was actually fun to watch him play a character who is kind of a selfish douche. Even though The Big Year makes the bad guy just a slightly flawed human being, there are a few clever uses of his character's willingness to mess with the competition just to get ahead.
I'm really not sure how it's going to do in theaters, but I really think my tried and true 'Google test' steered me wrong this time. My wife and I attended a prime 715 showing on a Friday night and the theater wasn't even a third full.
The Big Year is kind of like a few bites of a food you like but don't love. It won't fill you up and you certainly won't hate it, but it's not going to do much for you in the long run. I still think 50/50 is a better 'date' movie because the girl is going to cry at some point and the guy can use that opportunity to make 'the move.'
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