A Birder's Guide to Everything (2013)

David Portnoy, a fifteen-year-old birding fanatic, thinks that he's made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father's remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his ... See full summary »

Director:

Rob Meyer

Writers:

Rob Meyer, Luke Matheny

Stars:

Kodi Smit-McPhee, James Le Gros, Daniela Lavender

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kodi Smit-McPhee	...	David Portnoy
James Le Gros	...	Donald Portnoy (as James LeGros)
Daniela Lavender	...	Juliana Santos
Katie Chang	...	Ellen Reeves
Alex Wolff	...	Timmy Barsky
Zandi Holup	...	Evelyn Reed
Michael Chen	...	Peter Nessbaum
Tobias Campbell	...	Rob Lindau
Joel Van Liew	...	Mr. Edbrook
Daniel Berger	...	Scarsdale High School Capt (as Daniel G.S. Berger)
Ben Kingsley	...	Lawrence Konrad
Adam Barrie	...	Eric
Jessica Perez	...	Trish
Ethan Cohn	...	Jeff
Lucas Near-Verbrugghe	...	Trent

Storyline

David Portnoy, a fifteen-year-old birding fanatic, thinks that he's made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father's remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history.

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Plot Keywords:

birding | friendship | friendship between boys | teenage boy | teenage girl | 

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Taglines:

Find your reason to fly.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 on appeal for language, sex and drug references, and brief partial nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the four teenagers have stopped in the park to see a bird, David makes a "psh-psh-psh" noise. This sound, called "pishing", is often used by birders to attract birds to their location.

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Goofs

When the teenagers have stopped in the park to look at a bird, we see an Eastern Towhee singing. In the next shot David points at a Downy Woodpecker and comments that it's replying to him, but at that point we hear a different type of bird singing.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, there is a Banvir Chaudhary and its misspelled version Banvir Shaudhary.

User Reviews

A charming coming-of-age tale

"A Birder's Guide to Everything" is an unassuming little charmer about a quartet of teenaged ornithologists who go in pursuit of a duck long believed to be extinct by experts in such matters. But, as the title itself suggests, "birding" is about a whole lot more than just seeking out and categorizing rare birds; it's about friendship, camaraderie, first love, learning to let go and growing up.

Kodi Smit-McPhee plays David Portnoy, a high school boy who's having trouble coming to terms with the death of his beloved mother a year-and- a-half ago, a renowned ornithologist herself who instilled an intense love for birds in her son that he carries with him to this very day. His grieving process is not being helped by the fact that his father (James Le Gros) is slated to marry the nurse (Daniela Lavender) who took care of his mother in her dying days. David rebels in the only way a non-troublemaking, bird-obsessed boy really can - by piling into a "borrowed" car with his equally bird-obsessed buddies and going off through the woods of Upstate New York to prove the world wrong about that aforementioned duck.

Written by Luke Matheny and Rob Meyer and directed by Meyer, "A Birder's Guide to Everything" is filled with humor, warmth, and winning performances by Alex Wolff and Michael Chen as David's lifelong pals, as well as Katie Chang as the initially skeptical but sufficiently open- minded fellow student who joins the boys in their quest. Ben Kingley also gets in on the fun as a professional ornithologist who worked with David's mother and has a few words of wisdom to impart to the mourning lad on the eve of his dad's nuptials.

Along with some dazzling scenery, "A Birder's Guide to Everything" manages to drive home a few basic truths - like it really is okay to march to the beat of your own drum - with its deceptively simple tale of a boy and his birds.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Birder's Guide to Everything

Filming Locations:

Somers, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,602, 23 March 2014

Gross USA:

$48,713

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,713

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamfly Productions, Escape Pictures, Lavender Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1