X
  • 1988
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 2 h 41 m
  • 1988
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 2 h 41 m

Summary Bird, a film burnished with the magic of that 1946 concert encounter between legend and future legend and honored with an Academy Award for Best Sound in its spellbinding recreation of a man and his music. Like jazz itself, Bird rings with counterpoints and embellishments. Past and future overlap as the film explores Yardbird's soaring s...

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Written By: Joel Oliansky

  • 1988
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 2 h 41 m
  • 1988
  • R
  • Warner Bros.
  • 2 h 41 m

Bird

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
78
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 16 User Ratings
7.1
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Bird, a film burnished with the magic of that 1946 concert encounter between legend and future legend and honored with an Academy Award for Best Sound in its spellbinding recreation of a man and his music. Like jazz itself, Bird rings with counterpoints and embellishments. Past and future overlap as the film explores Yardbird's soaring s...

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Written By: Joel Oliansky

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
78
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
78
93% Positive
13 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
n a remarkable directorial effort, Eastwood shows a great flair for atmosphere and composition and presents a nuanced, complex, humane portrait of Parker's talents, obstacles, virtues and failings. Whitaker gives a towering performance as the tortured musical genius, and Venora is equally impressive as the independent, compassionate Chan.
FULL REVIEW
88
Bird isn't an easy film, and it doesn't always make an effort to be likable. But it's a dazzler - at least as good as "Round Midnight,'' and that's saying a lot.
By David Sterritt FULL REVIEW
80
The film is as faithful to its subject as perhaps any film biography has been. As Eastwood said, Parker was a paradoxical character, both self-destructive and full of life, and the movie, simultaneously dark and exhilarating, takes that as its theme. [22 Sep 1988, p. 1]
By Jack Mathews FULL REVIEW
75
At two hours and 43 minutes, Eastwood's Bird is a hypnotic, darkly photographed, loosely constructed marvel that avoids every cliche of the self-destructive-celebrity biography, a particularly remarkable achievement in that Parker played out every cliche of the self- destructive-celebrity life. [14 Oct 1988, p. C1]
By Jay Scott FULL REVIEW
75
Clint Eastwood remains a competent, rather than distinctive, film maker, but he obviously respects the material. Bird is essentially factual, and we come to understand why so many other musicians thought shooting heroin might enable them to transfer [Charlie Parker]'s genius to themselves. [26 Sept 1988, p. 4D]
By Mike Clark FULL REVIEW
70
The movie won't come clear, Eastwood has succeeded so thoroughly in communicating his love of his subject, and there's such vitality in the performances, that we walk out elated, juiced on the actors and the music.
By Hal Hinson FULL REVIEW
60
You'll leave Bird's smooth flow of nightclub images, dark motel rooms and recharged Parker tracks with new respect for Eastwood the Director. But you'll also leave none the wiser about Parker the Man.
FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 16 User Ratings
7.1
69% Positive
11 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
13% Negative
2 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 16 User Ratings
7.1
69% Positive
11 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
13% Negative
2 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Warner Bros., The Malpaso Company
Release Date Sep 30, 1988
Duration 2 h 41 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline "There are no second acts in American lives." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
View All Details

Awards

Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Sant Jordi Awards
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations

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