Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 suspense/horror movie "The Birds" is such a classic, that nobody else should have ever dared to make a film about birds.
For almost 50 years nobody did, but in 2011 director David Frankel released the "comedy" "The Big Year" about a group of bird enthusiasts who engage in a competition to see who can spot the most species of birds in one year.
The film is labeled a comedy, but in spite of a cast featuring such comedic heavyweights like Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, I didn't crack a smile even one time.
I'll give the filmmakers credit though, they didn't go the easy route to elicit cheap laughs by having birds poop on Jack Black. There wasn't even a scene where Owen Wilson is viewing a very rare bird on his binoculars, but then exclaims "screw this bird", and turns his attention to a hot chick jogging. If Frankel shad hired me as a screenwriter, his film wouldn't have bombed at the box office.
The premise of a bunch of bird-brains trying to see who can spot the most birds might work as a sketch on Saturday Night Live, but it was destined to fail as a motion picture.
Disclaimer: At one point in the flick Steve Martin explains to Jack Black that the competition is on the honor system, the contestants don't have to photograph every bird they claim to have seen. That gave me a brilliant idea: I can write a review of "The Big Year" without seeing every boring minute. Let's just say that I made liberal use of the fast forward button on my remote control.
The running time of this cinematic offering is 101 minutes; I wasted 30 minutes watching it and five minutes writing the review.
This film is for the birds! Spend 101 minutes of your life on a more worthwhile endeavor like watching the grass grow or Oprah Winfrey getting a pedicure and a manicure.
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