‘Big Year’ offers quirky comedy
If you’re in the mood for some feathery fluff of the happy, sappy and not wholly unpleasant sort, there is “The Big Year.”
This weirdly whimsical family comedy about competitive birders stars Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin, and, yes, the humor is exactly as nerdy as that sounds.
When toning down a comic trio that leans toward edgy to PG-lite, the humor that results is more of the mildly mirthful brand. So don’t expect sidesplitting, tear-producing moments of unbridled laughter, but do plan on chortles.
As the story begins, the three are strangers setting out on a quest to be the year’s top birder. Referred to by aficionados as going for “the big year,” it’s a contest of who spots the most bird species in North America in a single year.
The guys are in varying stages of modern adult-male meltdowns. Black plays Brad Harris, a computer programmer, divorced and going nowhere, but a genius at identifying bird calls. Martin is Stu Preissler, a captain of industry, now looking to retire and give in to his birding obsession. Wilson is Kenny Bostick, the reigning birder with a record 732 sightings in one year but fearful someone might overtake him.
The conflicts arise as Stu, Brad and Bostick (no one calls him Kenny except the wife played by Rosamund Pike, who wishes he’d stay home long enough to do a little chick-producing nesting) try to outwit and out-watch one another to the top.
Stu’s life seems perfect, with JoBeth Williams as his understanding wife, but there’s a grandchild on the way. Brad is the most complex in this very un-complex world – his dad (Brian Dennehy) thinks his birding is nuts, his mom (Dianne Wiest) is determined her boy will live his dream, and Ellie (Rashida Jones) is a sweetheart whom Brad has his eye on.
Director David Frankel (“The Devil Wears Prada”) and cinematographer Lawrence Sher (“The Hangover”) offer up a woodsy amusement park that has the feel of something plucked out of the ’50s “Leave It to Beaver” school. The scenery is beautiful, and Frankel makes time to let those so inclined drink in all that splendor.
As it happens, there are quite a lot of bird life lessons to be plucked – loyalty, endurance, don’t count the ordinary bird out – and even more just plain bird lore worth dispensing. It’s done cleverly for the most part, with close-ups of real rare fowl along with some facts.
None of the actors does a particularly outstanding job, but no one does too badly either. Black only arches that mischief-signaling eyebrow once or twice, Wilson does affable affably and Martin plays fatherly with restraint (or is he simply bored?).
“The Big Year” might not soar (you wonder what fun Christopher “Best in Show” Guest might have had with the competitive birding world), but there is harmless pleasure to be found when feathers aren’t ruffled.