Dorathen Better Late Then Never

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

thekarmicnomad This is a film about bird spotting. A three way race to see the most birds in one year.I switched this on with some trepidation, mainly because of the cast. I was expecting lots of zany antics and was sure at some point Jack Black would jump out of a pond with a plastic duck on his head. This did not happen.The film is gentle, restrained and articulate.The story is very plain, don't expect any action or any belly laughs. This restraint works well against the backdrop of bird watching. The writers go to lengths not to poke fun at the "Birders" which was quite refreshing.The main themes look around motivation of people with obsessive hobbies and their relationships with those outside their hobby.This isn't going to make it in to my DVD collection but I do recommend it for a watch. Don't expect too much and you won't be let down.

TheLittleSongbird 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

bbickley13-921-58664 Great feel good movie, ruined by an all star cast?I remember seeing the poster for the movie in theaters a while back. I don't know weather I missed it cause of a limited release or weather they decided not to release the movie at all.Either way this was the second time a movie starring Jack Black just up and disappeared from the box office, the other one was Envy which also starred Ben Stiller.Anyway, a movie starring such comic juggernauts as Black, Steve Martian, and Owen Wilson, should not have gone away so quietly, but it did.Especially a decent film like this one. Black, Martian, and Wilson play three bird watchers going for The Big Year, in which they travel across North America spotting as many birds as they can. Black and Martian become friends attempting to beat the record of spotted birds held by Wilson. Each man has a personal interest in changing their lives through the hobby of bird watching. Each story perfectly compliments the other and makes for an uplifting film about following your dreams. I'm not sure if Bird watching counts as a sport, but the movie has that essence of a good Underdog becomes Triumphant type of vibe. But the fault of the film maybe is it's stars. Three men known for being funny yet the movie was not really that funny. It was quirky do to the subject matter and it was semi humorous but not to the point that it justifies who's in it.But whatever fault in stopping this movie from being a box office draw should not stop anyone from seeing this this hidden gem.

Yuri (yuri01-1) This was a an unexpected surprise. Steve Martin has been very quiet for some time, while Jack Black is better known for low brow comedy. They both out did themselves in this.Do you do what's right or do what is expected of you, even when it's something that other people would regard as only a hobby? The cast members each take their own course in life for better or for worse.However, once the decision is made, they follow through (in most cases). You, as the audience member, is left to consider whether you would have done the same. File this one under "Life Lesson Movies" without being preachy.