By Scott Hanis

I was really excited when I first heard about The Big Year. You hear that it’s Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson together in a movie where they are competitive bird watchers. That puts a certain expectation in your head that a bunch of wackiness is going to happen. My expectation was a comedy that could be an instant classic. The Big Year was different than what I expected, but I still enjoyed it.

Stu (Martin), Brad (Black), and Kenny (Wilson) come from different backgrounds but have one thing in common, bird watching. They love birds. For bird watchers, there’s a competition to see who can see or hear the most species in one year, a “big year” for that watcher. The contest is governed by the good ‘ol honor system. This year sets up to be a good year to go for a big year. Stu and Brad are finally in a position to have a big year, and Kenny is the reigning record holder who wants to keep his title.

These three, and many other “birders”, travel everywhere to see birds, both common and rare. They follow big storms as those tend to mess with flight patterns and bird habits. All the birders are really into bird watching, which seems funny by itself, but that’s not the direction this movie went.

The Big Year has some funny stuff, but it’s not the type of funny that I was expecting. I really like Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson (Steve Martin is probably my favorite entertainer out there). It has a pretty good story and it shows well what these three have to sacrifice in order to fulfill this dream. I know other reviewers didn’t really care for this one, but I’m more than willing to recommend it. Just don’t expect an over-the-top comedy and you should be alright.

Corn Flicks Rating: 7/10 corns

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