The first shot of the movie shows a man at his most vulnerable and we quickly learn why. He desperately wants to be respected as an actor ,not just asked  Didn’t you used to be Birdman?  This is perfect casting as  Keaton’s most iconic role was Batman 20 years ago and his roles have decreased as he got older. Riggan Thomson is  directing and starring in a play by Raymond Carver that could get respect from the critics if he could just get a great lead actor. An  incident on the set  sends the current lead to the hospital and he says why can’t we get Woody Harrelson or Michael Fassbender?  They are in hot projects . A difficult but excellent actor Mike Shiner is suggested by lead actress (Naomi Watts)  This actor is perfectly cast as Edward Norton has a reputation of being brilliant but demanding and being fired from being a superhero (the Incredible Hulk)  it is hate at first sight for these two, but the tickets all sell out the opening night is a full house, so there is no way his stage manager  (Zach Galifinakis ) will fire him. He was the biggest surprise , playing completely against type , and the most sensible one in the cast.

His adorable,cool, bored assistant is also his daughter played by a blonde Emma Stone. She and Norton have sizzling chemistry in a couple scenes.

Both preview nights go wrong but  a bad night when Keaton gets locked out of the theater ends up with him streaking through a crowd  with very  little clothes desperately trying to get back in and going viral on Twitter! He got the fame he wanted,even if it was in a humiliating way!

This movie is totally unpredictable, a blast from beginning to end, a satire of both actors, and the theatre world. This movie is not for everyone , it has strong language and is a black comedy  and I was surprised to see 3 guys get up and walk out 20 minutes into the movie! I think if they had stayed 20 more minutes they would have liked it better.

I do hope it wins a few of the 7 Golden Globes it has been nominated for and I give it 3.5 out of 5 .I would like to see Keaton in a lot more roles.