And there is a brilliant, farcical moment when he is locked out of the theatre just before needing to go on, and the only way to the stage is through the public front-of-house entrance. You can only set your username once.Please preview your comment below and click ‘post’ when you’re happy with it.The former Batman actor is ideally cast as a faded star once famed for his superhero rolesBefore you post, we’d like to thank you for joining the debate - we’re glad you’ve chosen to participate and we value your opinions and experiences. Divorced Riggan is now in a semi-covert relationship with co-star Laura (Andrea Riseborough), who wants a baby; however, she also has a Sapphic tendresse for the show’s leading lady, Lesley (Naomi Watts), who must act opposite her own boyfriend, Mike Shiner, a hyperactive, narcissistic method-acting diva hilariously played by Edward Norton. R iggan is a casualty of film: two decades ago, he bailed from the smash-hit Birdman superhero franchise between its third and fourth instalments, but … Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Contribute ... Mark Kermode's film of the week How to Build a Girl review – enjoyably rough-and-ready 4 out of 5 stars. Riggan doesn’t want to renounce his celebrity. Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) review – a delirious, hallucinatory showbiz comedy 5 5 Michael Keaton is tremendous as the superhero movie star trying to … Birdman also possesses an irony and humour conspicuous by their absence in some of Mexican director Iñárritu’s portentous earlier movies (for example, 21 Grams and Babel.) The situation is every star’s worst nightmare: having to somehow prove your importance and validate your existence from scratch. Birdman is a delicious and delirious pleasure. The Revenant review – gut-churningly brutal, beautiful storytelling 5 5 Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie pitches Leonardo DiCaprio … He has hired his lawyer buddy Jake (Zach Galifianakis) to produce, and his daughter Sam (Emma Stone) to be his personal assistant, in a pathetic attempt to make up for neglecting her in childhood while away shooting those hateful Birdman films – an abandonment that contributed to her drug issues.Michael Keaton is tremendous as the superhero movie star trying to reinvent himself as a serious actor in this freaky-deaky flight of fancy from Alejandro González IñárrituAnd all the time, poor Riggan is approaching a mental breakdown due to the imminent critical and commercial catastrophe; and he can’t quite admit to himself that he is addicted to celebrity, though he is unsure how to renegotiate his declining position as a famous person in the alien new world of reality shows and social media. In … Antonio Sanchez's Birdman live score review – New York's volatile tempos 4 out of 5 stars. Deep in his heart, he prefers the acclaim of strangers to intimacy with his wife and daughter. Amusingly, he confesses to a horrendous status-anxiety episode while on a plane with George Clooney – like Clooney, Michael Keaton himself played Batman in that pre-Nolan era when superheroes were not quite as ubiquitous as they are now. Poor Riggan has haughtily abandoned the dumb superhero role of Birdman that made him rich and famous, and is now trying for credibility by starring in his own self-financed Broadway stage adaptation of a Raymond Carver story.