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Pretty Bird

Play trailer Poster for Pretty Bird R 2008 1h 37m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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20% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 16% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A fast-talking entrepreneur (Billy Crudup) ropes a jobless scientist (Paul Giamatti) into his scheme to make and sell rocket belts.
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Pretty Bird

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Robert Koehler Variety An overly calculated cautionary tale. Jan 30, 2008 Full Review Duane Byrge Hollywood Reporter This slight-framed bird never soars and ultimately crashes under the weight of its excessive thematic ballast. Jan 25, 2008 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette While the names attached to Paul Schneider's directorial debut (Paul Giamatti, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig) might make it sound attractive, there's a reason this 2008 black comedy - allegedly based on a true story - never made it to a theater near you. Rated: 78/100 Jul 3, 2010 Full Review John J. Puccio Movie Metropolis ...wanders hopelessly, trying to find a tone or a purpose or a point of view. Rated: 4/10 Jun 28, 2010 Full Review Scott Weinberg Cinematical The three leads seem to be having a lot of fun with this somewhat strange material. Rated: 4/5 Jan 28, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (36) audience reviews
Audience Member characters with character that engage, excellent choice of actors, pleasant movie music, production easy on the eyes, truly a nice an inspiring watch Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent first half, terrible second half. The plot went nowhere, and a good start was ruined. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/01/18 Full Review anthony b Modest, minor, and harmless, Pretty Bird is pretty funny. The cast is odd and ambitious, each actor trying something a little unorthodox for them, not risky necessarily, but the performances are definitely different and solid. Paul Giamatti and Billy Crudup are both amusing in their roles, especially when they play off each other, which happens often because the story revolves around their equally quirky characters butting heads. The screenplay for Pretty Bird was a hit on the blacklist but as a film it was a dud at Sundance (among other festivals) and never received a theatrical release and for the first hour I was watching it I couldn't figure out why. It was well paced, likable, and had that mainstream appeal. It wasn't until the third act began that it quickly became apparent as to why this movie never took off (inside joke/pun intended.) Still, the third act isn't bad, just the ending, which lacked resolve. Pretty Bird manages to maintain its tone for the most part but loses its steam in the last 30 minutes and just kind of wanders, which is odd, because the film could have gone in at least a dozen other directions that would have resulted in a more satisfying/sensible conclusion. For actor turned director Paul Schneider (aka pseudo Jim from Parks and Recreation)'s directorial debut, Pretty Bird is successful in its own right, but let's be honest, it's textbook indie stuff. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The reviews here seem to be basing this film on the criteria reserved for mainstream BS and therefore miss the point entirely. The performances in this film are incredible. Crudup and Giamatti are both absolutely outstanding, and the supports are right there with them. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie made no sense. A complete waste of talent. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Just saw an edited TV version of it. I have to say, forget about watching it for entertainment. Although it is fictional, I think it is like a documentary in a way. I would disagree a bit with the movie info. The "fast-talking rainmaker" is more of a wannabe, a guy with a dream but nothing to advance it with except what he's learned from motivational books (which he doesn't really understand anyway) and some talent for putting up a false image (lying). "His wealthy acquaintance" is a guy with a mattress business and some space to spare. He seems to have been close to the shyster at one time and comes to regard him as his one real friend, and there are hints he'd like to be, uh, more than just a friend, but the feeling isn't mutual. Still, he supports Prentiss without reservation, without looking before leaping. Prentiss searches for a "genius" and tempts the reluctant rocket engineer to join by showing him some plans which may or may not have been obtained without permission by the owner... or might be just materials available at public libraries (rocket belts have been around for awhile, they just don't have any practical use due to severely limited time in the air: 15-30 seconds!). A key component, it turns out, isn't detailed, but the engineer zooms in on a picture in a video. The three men never really form a team, they do NOT "all" attempt to raise the money they need. They never seem to form a team. Actually, it would be a good set-up to have an initial sponsor supplying start-up money while concentrating on making more with his own successful business, and an engineer concentrating on making the product work. The scheme falls down because it never really had a chance to begin with (as noted, even a working jet belt isn't a good investment) and because Prentiss really doesn't know what he's doing even as a slick-talking fake -- plus he seems to be secretly planning to take all the credit and maybe all the money. The high point of the scheme is when the jet pack successfully flies (with a test pilot) for a few seconds. Then everything starts falling apart, or perhaps the failures of Prentiss start to become clear to the other two. The mattress business is going broke. The engineer becomes increasingly suspicious of Prentiss, and the sad tale descends into madness. The strange thing is, as strange as the tale may seem and as extreme as the behavior gets, something very like it has probably happened many times in real life, including the kidnapping and ATTEMPTED murder. I've seen several Prentiss types myself, known a man with a real estate business who bumbled into involvement with the mob (fortunately he got caught before he actually delivered what turned out to be bomb parts), and have experienced the pressure from money-grubbers to get someone with ideas to throw large amounts of money their way for very little in return, including a vanishingly small chance of ever seeing any money back for the "investment." Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Pretty Bird

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A fast-talking entrepreneur (Billy Crudup) ropes a jobless scientist (Paul Giamatti) into his scheme to make and sell rocket belts.
Director
Paul Schneider
Producer
Daniel Carey, Elizabeth Giamatti, Paul Giamatti, John Limotte
Screenwriter
Paul Schneider
Production Co
Sound Pictures
Rating
R (Language|A Scene of Sexuality)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 37m
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