(L-R) Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black in 'The Big Year' - Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox
Director David Frankel
takes a story of single-minded pursuit and squeezes it into a convenient
package — albeit one that doesn't feel as though it has all that much to
do with the subject at hand. Inspired by Mark Obmascik's fascinating nonfiction
book, The
Big Year follows three avid birders
trying to identify the most individual bird species in North America over the course
of one calendar year: divorced computer programmer Brad Harris (Jack Black);
wealthy soon-to-retire businessman Stu Preissler (Steve Martin); and relentless
"Big Year" record-holder Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson).
Frankel and screenwriter Howard Franklin maintain a generally breezy tone, following the trio as they follow tips to their various geographical stopovers, as well as the effects of their activities on their personal relationships. But that breeziness doesn't leave much room for the edge that should exist in a story about obsession, and the lengths to which people go for "because it's there" achievement with no tangible reward. For all the satisfying comic moments, The Big Year buries most of what's distinctive about its milieu under gentle moralizing about realizing (or not) what really matters. Grade: C
Opens wide Oct. 14.
