Call me crazy, but I think that a movie centered around birds should make sure not to include major bird errors. My boyfriend and I are both long-time birders and our social lives, weekend plans, and wardrobe choices usually revolve around our love of birds and birding. This movie had us cracking up (it's great to watch after a few beers) with how ridiculous it was. A Labrador Duck looks nothing like a Mallard. And it wouldn't be walking up a suburban street. You wouldn't find an eclipse plumaged White-winged Scoter walking up a suburban street either. American Kestrel just chilling on a roof? Nah brah. There are more than 3 critically endangered duck species, and West Indian Whistling-Duck is not one of them. They didn't even get the scientific name of the Labrador Duck correct. Also, who uses film cameras nowadays besides artists who consciously prefer them as a medium? I love the growing popularity of birding in pop culture, but please do it right! The basis of the plot (glimpsing this rare duck) is completely far-fetched, but other plot elements are also a little forced. The acting was decent in my eye, but the character development was lacking, and there were countless tropes. The script-writing could have been better, but we appreciated the frequent moments of absurdity. Like I said, an OK movie to watch after a few drinks and laugh at with friends, but as a whole, it lacked factual integrity.

Many independent comedies with similar themes end up being very slow with way more drama than comedy and no satisfying conclusion. This film, however, keeps a comedic edge all the way through with plenty of big laughs, while also maintaining enough emotional drama to keep us hoping that David finds what he's looking for. The climax and resolution are satisfying, though the climax felt like it may have come a bit too soon.Every character is well defined with their own struggle and arc. David's two best friends, Timmy (Alex Wolff) and Peter (Michael Chen), are both hilarious. Timmy is struggling with his own delusions about a popular girl at school liking him when in reality she's just using him to do her math homework. Peter is overly cautious and accused of being a pussy throughout the film until he finally decides to take a big risk to help his friends. They're particularly funny when making decisions as the school Birder's Club, because they're incredibly official and always take the time for formalities despite the fact that they're just three friends.Ellen (Katie Chang), a girl from the photography club at school, is convinced to join the boys on their trip after she catches them stealing a lens from the photography department. David teaches Ellen about birding throughout their trip, and the two come to like each other.SPOILER ALERT!The second act felt too short. It seemed like David and his friends weren't on their search for very long before the climax hit, largely because there weren't very many challenges or obstacles to overcome once they began their search. It's set up earlier in the story that before they embark on their trip, Ellen accidentally tells two other birders about the duck they're looking for, setting the main characters up for some possible competition. While those birders do appear again later, they don't really serve as antagonists throughout the second act who are trying to find the duck first, which would have created more tension and conflict throughout act two.Lawrence Konrad (Ben Kingsley) finds the group during their search and ends up helping them. However, they weren't really in need of the help before he showed up and he didn't seem to be particularly helpful in the search. They end up spotting the duck a bit too easily, without anyone needing to do anything too special to find it. It would have been more rewarding if there had been more of a struggle to find it, and if the group had to use every bit of their combined birding knowledge.Even after the climax is over and the main issue is resolved, there is still the issue of getting to David's father's wedding; but nothing was really made of their rush to get there in time. The potential conflict is even set up with David realizing that he has the rings for his father's wedding and needs to get there with them, but then right when they leave, the next shot is them arriving for the wedding on time without having made anything of the struggle to get there.All in all, a fantastic and enjoyable film with plenty of laughs, fun characters, and a unique concept. There could have been more conflict throughout, and most problems were resolved too easily. Still, on a scale of 1-10, it was too enjoyable to give it anything less than an 8.

Since maybe 2011 (around the time The Big Year was released), it seems that the sport or birding (known informally and incorrectly by many people as "bird-watching") has been flirting with mainstream recognition. An abundance of films on the topic have been made within the last few years, and basic research on my behalf shows birding events occurring all over the world."Absolutely anyone can be a birder. Except for blind people, I suppose," Ben Kingsley's character in A Birder's Guide to Everything, the latest entry in "birding cinema," if there were such a thing. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as David Portnoy, a fifteen-year-old who loves birding and believes he has spotted a Labrador Duck, a species which is believed to have gone extinct. He snaps a blurry but somewhat discernible picture that erects hope that the bird is migrating to a common migration point that, of course, requires a coming-of-age road trip with some buds. David brings his assorted, quirky band of pals such as the rambunctious Timmy (Alex Wolff of The Naked Brothers Band fame), the awkward and asthmatic Peter (Michael Chen), and the group's crush Ellen (Katie Chang), pretty much because she's a female as they drive down in a buddy's car he technically didn't consent to loaning. If you're wondering where Kingsley comes in, he plays a birding expert, adding another element of diversity to his long-successful acting career.The reasons for chasing the bird are aplenty. A good part of the reason is the team's love and fondness for nature and the outdoors, but, according to Timmy, the benefit is that proving that the Labrador Duck is actually a living species will help them "fame-wise, money-wise, and vagina-wise." I almost forgot to mention A Birder's Guide to Everything's deals with some complex themes such as birding and the functionality of teenage hormones. The latter needs no explanation as to why I believe it's complex, but I believe birding is one of the most difficult sports around because of the fact that I think it would be hard or next to impossible to hold down a full-time job while being an avid birder. You have to be willing to travel all over the world in hopes of spotting a rare bird just for a few seconds, which will hopefully be another time for you to snap a clear picture of your subject.The film is another one of those contemporary coming-of-age films that follow a group of eclectic characters as they try to understand their position in life and what they're destined for in the real world. This usually helps when they have unstable homelives and are fascinated with an arbitrary topic such as birding. I use a tone of sarcasm here because of the fact that while A Birder's Guide to Everything really doesn't do anything wrong, these contemporary coming-of-age films are only a hair away from becoming a cliché. While I scarcely tire of films centered around teens and their struggles, many of these films are beginning to mesh together, what with last year's The Kings of Summer and Mud having very similar premises, despite both being brilliant films. If these films continue to be made with the same kind of quirky formula, eventually they will lose their uniqueness and become as cliché as the films centered around the nerdy guy getting the gorgeous girl.Even with this idea, A Birder's Guide to Everything is still a wholesome little exercise, smart, genial, and utilizes its PG-13 rating with plausibility. I always fear coming-of-age films with PG-13 ratings because that ultimately means sexual content and language are kept to a minimum, which is simply not reality in many teenagers' lives today. However, this film utilizes it conservatively but believably, not making the subject matter go out of its way to be offensive nor neuter itself to the realm of not being believable.It's also easy to appreciate the work by Kodi Smit-McPhee along with Alex Wolff, who got his start on the Nickelodeon program The Naked Brothers Band (but the less said about that the better). Both Smit-McPhee and Wolff have true potential to go on to be strong, capable actors in a wide-variety of work. Smit-McPhee portrays listless but not helpless in a way that works in a way that doesn't feel like a pitiful cry for cheap sympathy, and Wolff's energy and controlled goofiness carry his character.Then there's the fact that A Birder's Guide to Everything effectively illustrates how one man's passion is another man's bewilderment, seeing as David's father (James Le Gros) has no concept nor practical knowledge to how his son's fervent love for birding works. It's hardly uncommon for parents to be struggling at trying to identify their children's hobbies, especially in the tumultuous world we live in today, where the likes and dislikes of kids grow increasingly peculiar thanks to things like the internet. Co-writer/director Rob Meyer and Luke Matheny illustrate this by telling it like it is; David's father has no idea (or real interest) in what his son likes.A Birder's Guide to Everything is often just as odd as its title, but its warmness, depiction of an offbeat hobby, its quirky but realistic line of characters, and instances that beautifully detail birding and teen hormones are filled with all the tenderness and heart needed to make a project like this succeed as a whole.Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alex Wolff, Michael Chen, Katie Chang, James Le Gros, and Ben Kingsley. Directed by: Rob Meyer.

I saw this film at a benefit screening for the Wild Bird Fund in New York. It was the perfect audience for a story about bird lovers, but this smart, sad, funny film will appeal to everyone. The young cast is uniformly excellent, so the story of geeky misfits on a quest seems fresh rather than something you've seen a dozen times before. And unlike so many teenagers in movies, the writers and director treat these characters with respect. A boy who is still grieving for his mother, and coping with his father's imminent remarriage, corrals his friends -- and the obligatory cute girl tagging along -- into taking an impromptu camping trip, on the trail of a duck that may belong to a species long thought extinct. There are few surprises, but this intelligent well-crafted story doesn't need them.