Pretty Bird

Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) has a new idea for an invention. He enlists the help of his friend Kenny Owenby (David Hornsby) who owns a mattress store. Mandy Riddle (Kristen Wiig) works at the store. Rick Honeycutt (Paul Giamatti) is an unemployed rocket scientist. The invention is a rocket belt but Curtis has no technical knowledge and no money.

Billy Crudup is wrong for a wacky indie comedy lead. He is not at all funny. It should be much more of a dark comedy early on. Paul Giamatti is fine as a foil to a funnier character and he's also fine in a black comedy. Hornsby does his normal thing. Kristen Wiig is hilarious when she actually gets lines. In general, there are not enough funny jokes and Crudup is not the best one to deliver them anyways. It's a weak attempt at writing and directing from Paul Schneider who is usually an actor. Actually he could have played Curtis a little bit better than Crudup. The last third turns into something darker which isn't set up in the first part of the movie. I can see what this is attempting but it doesn't work.

I have become a big fan of Paul Giamatti of late. To be fair, he was great in this as he always seems to be. All of the acting was very good, and for some time the movie was engaging and funny, but man did it fall apart in the last 1/3 or so. It is the worst movie I have seen in some time.

There were elements of humor and even suspense, but the story really didn't make any sense, and not in a cool quirky way either. Also the use of Kristin Wiig for such an insignificant role is a waste of her talent.

Don't bother with this one. Try Cold Souls for Giamattites and even Whip It for you Wiigies!

This movie doesnt deserve only 12 reviews on Imdb, although "Pretty Bird" is best suited for a small arthouse audience, who can appreciate a quirky downer portrait of a born looser with big big ideas about making a rocket belt with which individual people can fly. Will he succeed or will he fail again? I have seen it several times already and although I am not rolling on the floor laughing I really dig the unique melancholic/comic looser spirit of this movie: failing miserably, yet doing so with total commitment.

This movie feels a bit uneven in the sense, that it isnt really funny, yet it isnt really dramatic either. It falls somewhat in between. And I like that quirkyness of not being able to place this movie under one particular label, but many people probably might say it is going nowhere, which isnt totally besides the point, because the leading character's life is actually going nowhere. But this looser has crafted his failing at EVERYTHING into a way of life, that is sad yet kinda funny and endearing as well. For me personally it has got the right balance between sad and funny, but for those who like to see a full on straight comedy I would advice to pass this movie by...

"Pretty Bird" is about entrepeneuring a 'rocket belt', which is a real invention. It centers on Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) who at one point in the film says "It's not just a rocket belt, it's an attitude." That says exactly what this film is, it's not about a rocket belt, it's about the attitude of its characters.

Opening and closing with Billy Crudup's Curtis, he brings together Rick (Paul Giamatti) and Kenny (David Hornsby) as partners in his rocket belt innovation company. It's not about what they do, but who they are. They are all deeply troubled men. The characteristics that we see in Crudup's and Giamatti's characters completely drive this film; they are flawed and we can almost put our finger on all of their insecurities and needs but there is more ticking beneath the surface. Without sounding like a love song to Billy Crudup, I have rarely seen a character brought to life the way Curtis was. In one word, phenomenal. In three words, breathtaking, heartbreaking, pioneering.

Unfortunately for all of its brilliant character work, the film stumbled with its story line. At times it was a little slow moving and as it neared the finish line it started meandering in other directions. It does seem pretty disjointed but it also just wanted to build up its characters even more.

Listed as a dark comedy, that is probably accurate. A very intelligent film with its humour, and its many dramatic elements makes it seem dark. Kristen Wiig, as usual for her, comes away with one of the most memorable, funny scenes in the movie.

Its ending can seem unsatisfying, but don't see "Pretty Bird" for its story line, see it for its characters, its smart humour, and Billy Crudup in the role of a lifetime.

Actor Paul Schneider turns his hand to directing, for this, his first and only time. With the big star pull (at least now) of Paul Giamatti and a premise along the lines of inventing rocket belts (I think they've been referred to as 'jet-packs' over here) and seen in Bond movie(s), you'd think this would be better known.

Or, at least available. I saw it on Film 4 and Radio Times online couldn't be bothered to give it a rating even and provided only the skimpiest of plot outlines. But it seems to be available via Amazon as region 1 DVD only, precluding the majority.

It started out OK, when it was vaguely predictable. Some guys (three) seem to phone each other up and suddenly meet and next thing they're moving into an industrial unit to test their invention. Apart from some interesting and nicely diverting fantasy sequences, it's a mess. You don't care for any of them, Giamatti shouts obscenities all the time and Billy Crudup looks uncomfortable. My mind lost interest and before long concentration had melted and I wanted it to end. I don't really know where the story went, if at all and the ending was vague and stupid. Apparently, there's kidnapping and betrayal when someone steals the only rocket belt in existence....

With bursts of inappropriate opera singing as background music, one could tell that Schneider is attempting satire and humour but that's completely smashed by an insensitive and heavy hand. It's no wonder that this one-time director realised his mistake and went straight back to acting!, while Giamatti must have shuffled it out of his CV.

My 2/10, rather than just one, is for some of the performances and I'm sure some people would find it endearing and no doubt, amusing and all that. But at nearly two hours it's just too long and any attempts to stay afloat whilst watching it is as likely as keeping those rocket belts in the air for any length of time. Disappointing