“This is a true story. Only the facts have been changed.” So opens “The Big Year,” a comedy from David Frankel, director of “Marley & Me” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” If only the tone of the story had been changed as well.
“The Big Year” centers around Brad Harris (Jack Black), a half-closeted birding fanatic who listens to bird calls on his MP3 player while working at a soul-sucking job. Brad has been saving for a “big year,” a term when a birder attempts to see as many avian species over the course of a calendar year within the U.S. borders. His goal is to surpass the record set a few years ago by Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson). Meanwhile, big shot CEO Stu Preissler (Steve Martin) is in the process of retiring and planning on spending his first year off shooting for a big year, too.
The movie is based on a book by Mark Obmascik and never really aspires to be the character study it could have been. Brad, a sweet man mired in a rut, earnestly sets off to pursue to his passion and find happiness. Money, a disapproving father, and history of divorce caused by his love of birding all arise as obstacles to achieving his desire to be the best birder. Kenny risks his marriage (not his first) and the prospect of a family and Stu can’t resist being dragged back into the business he ran.
The competition that tempts each man also impacts his ability to connect with his family and his fellow birders, a largely congenial group except for these guys. Unfortunately the muted tone of the movie dampens the severity of the consequences of their fanaticism on their lives outside of birding.
Frankel and screenwriter Howard Franklin never decide on where to go with the story. “The Big Year” could have been an opus on obsession the way that “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” was on greed, or it could have been a love letter to birding in the same way “High Fidelity” was to rock music. Even better, it could have been a wickedly black comedy in the vein of Martin’s exceptional “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” Instead, there’s more Marley than Prada in the story, and the yuks are reduced to sporadic chuckles. Given the cast, their choice is disappointing.
The lead trio all are restrained from letting the dark humor fly. Black channels his naïve Po (“Kung Fu Panda”), and while an extended screen presence usually annoys, he is believable as the nice guy chasing his dream. Martin and Wilson also play diet versions of their usual comedic personae. They’re all serviceable but you keep anticipating a snide comment or hysterical explosion of comedic anger that never comes.
The rest of the cast is impressive but thoroughly underutilized. Dianne Wiest, Rosamund Pike, Rashida Jones, Brian Dennehy, Jim Parsons, Anjelica Huston – these are all wonderful actors who barely manage to scrape together enough screen time to make their presence worthwhile. Either the production had extra money to blow on the talent or the casting agent had something over each of their heads.
The cinematography is the best part of the movie. From swamps to arctic islands, from cliffs to majestic forests, the scenic beauty of each shot is captured in a fashion that appreciates the setting as a nature lover would.
Ultimately, the desire to be a soupy heart warmer drags the movie toward mediocrity. And that makes “The Big Year” a rather so-so hour and a half.
DIRECTOR: David Frankel SCREENWRITER: Howard Franklin, Mark Obmascik (book) PRODUCERS: Stuart Cornfeld, Carol Fenelon CAST: Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson RUN TIME: 99 minutes MPAA RATING: PG
