Birds of America (2008)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Craig Lucas

Writer (WGA):

Elyse Friedman (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Some families defy classification

Plot:

A regular guy struggles with a repressive home and professional life, as well as making amends for the trouble his free-spirited brother and sister cause about town. |

Plot Keywords:

Siblings | Family Relationships

Cast

Matthew Perry	...	Morrie
Ben Foster	...	Jay
Ginnifer Goodwin	...	Ida
Lauren Graham	...	Betty Tanager
Zoë Kravitz	...	Gillian
Hilary Swank	...	Laura
Gary Wilmes	...	Paul
Daniel Eric Gold	...	Gary
Stacie Theon	...	Ellen Thomas
Lindsay Allen	...	Roller-Blading Girl
Tom Pelphrey	...	Hitchhiker
Will Toale	...	Young Male Cop
Vivien Kells	...	Sleeping Girl (as Vivien Kells O'Brien)
Keith McDermott	...	Man in Street
Marisa Zalabak	...	Woman in Street

Also Known As:

The Laws of Motion (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and brief drug use.

Runtime:

85 min | USA:89 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

Darien, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Accomplice Films

Quotes:

Ida: Sometimes kindness is wiser than truth.

Soundtrack:

Acoustic

Begelman would be shocked SHOCKED!

Boring attempt at a quirky indie feature with mainstream actors playing anxious wimps or pathological sibs prone to embarrassing their responsible (but loving!) caretakers, including a long suffering wife who wants to conceive but whose dream is perpetually postponed by her husband's, yes, you got it, anxiety about his ambition, and which fails to exploit the college town atmosphere it's trying so hard to contextualize (sacrilege in an indie), and ultimately we get stuck with some unpleasant (and not in a schadenfreudy kind of way either) characters and unfortunately for us passive viewers this 'feature' features a protagonist (Chandler Bing - who seems to be specializing in wimpy-bois now and even into middle age) whose only goal at this stage in his life is to someday enjoy a nice steamy dump (Begelman would be shocked SHOCKED! at such a wuss wanting to flush away such valuable treats); in fact rather than waste any more of the few seconds I have remaining in this life I decided to pull the plug, cinematus-interruptus style, so you should surmise by now I am not so sad to report this fillum is a misfire from the get-go since I get to take revenge out via IMDb, so you should take it from me- a compassionate conservationist- I don't think you or anyone else should waste what precious few remaining seconds on this planet.

Would you pay good money(tm) had to spend some time (say 90 mins) alone with the person(s) you most dislike in this world ("in-laws") and sit passively while they go about flailing their crazy unorthodox manners and peccadilloes right under your nose?

Yes?

Then by all means, "enjoy."

I gave it a two ("2") because at least they all showed up to work knowing they had a time bomb ticking away, and still managed to record it for posterity.

Come to think, no THAT might have made a better movie, everyone obliterated in the end by a mad bomber movie patron. Maybe I should have stuck around to see... hmmm.