The Big Year as a dodo

The best way to describe The Big Year is to compare it to the dodo. Although adorable, its flightless nature and stupidity lead to its demise.

Directed by David Frankel of The Devil Wears Prada fame, the story chronicles the journey of three competitive bird watchers in their attempts to best each other at finding the most species. The annual competition is known as a “Big Year”…hence The Big Year. In order to have a shot at the title, each challenger takes a year off from their lives to wholly devote themselves to bird watching. Kenny (Owen Wilson) holds the previous record, but to defend his title he must spend a significant amount of time away from his pregnant wife. Brad (Jack Black) is a divorced low-level grunt at a computer software company and realizes a big year is financially impossible without cash from his disapproving father. Stu (Steve Martin) is a recently retired executive who can’t get away for ten minutes without other executives nagging him about some contract. Over the course of the film, each character realizes the repercussions of his ornithological obsession and discovers what is truly important in his life.

Without a doubt, there are heartwarming moments and beautiful aerial shots that keep the film from plummeting into a complete lull. In particular, Steve Martin has several well-acted scenes, especially with his newborn granddaughter. Jack Black and Owen Wilson also have solid performances, though neither seems challenged. There simply isn’t enough comedic material in the script for them to display their talents because the writing painfully refuses to take risks. In fact, their characters are too likable.  Even the antagonist, Kenny, isn’t polarizing enough of a character. For example, he pulls a tricky stunt to distract Brad and Stu by convincing them to go in the opposite direction of a rare species. It’s a golden opportunity for a funny moment but it flops.

Remember that scene in Wedding Crashers when Owen Wilson poured eye drops into Brad Cooper’s wine glass to incapacitate him? The Big Year needs edgy moments like that. The gags employed by Wilson to keep his competitors at bay are unoriginal, boring and too nice. I don’t think I laughed at a single one. Overall, the script is written on the beak…oh, I mean, nose.  (If you laughed out loud at that joke, there’s a chance you’ll enjoy the humor in this film).  Additionally, there are way too many declarations of feelings and bird watching montages.

I applaud the original idea though, because out of all the movies I’ve seen in my 20 years of existence, this is my first about competitive bird watching. However, the progression of the story is far too cliché. There’s a slim chance you’ll laugh so I say skip it. Fly the coop to another film.