I first took notice of this film because of where I live- which is not that far away from Long Point, Ontario, a mecca for birdwatchers. I find that it’s a more immersive experience to watch a movie that is connected thematically in some way to the sorts of activities that the area I live in has to offer. This reinforces the suspension of disbelief while watching and serves to supercharge the imagination.  If you live in a seaside community and you’ve ever watched Jaws followed by a bit of swimming you know exactly what I mean.

Back to the birds 

The main story arc of The Big Year goes a little like this:  A ready-to-retire-but-not-quite-sure-its-the-right-time-to-retire businessman and a mid-thirties-divorced-unemployed-savant (he can identify any bird just by hearing a few notes of its birdsong) aim for beating the current single year record of bird sightings. In the parlance of the ‘birding’ community, this is known as doing a ‘big year’. The current record holder, played by Owen Wilson, is the rock-star of the ‘birding’ community and is completely obsessed with stopping anyone else from beating his record- even if this means missing the birth of his child and ruining his second marriage.

Highly competitive obsession

I always believed that birding was a slowly paced albeit serious hobby but this movie turns the notion on its head. The story develops and moves quickly. The characters are highly  competitive and race against each other as the suspense and intensity builds.

The Big Year is satisfying, clever and funny . If you are a birder there is a good chance that you will love this movie (especially if you can relate to the obsessive compulsive behavior of the main characters) but then again you might end up blaming this movie- you might decide on doing a big year and to hell with anything and anyone in your path. For the Silo, Doug McKenzie.

Supplemental- The Big Year:A Tale of Man,Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik.  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june04/bird_04-12.html