A Birder's Guide to Everything

Name: A Birder's Guide to Everything
Genre: Comedy
Released: March 21, 2014
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 61

2014

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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5.6

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5.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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A Birder's Guide To Everything

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Movie Details & Credits

Screen Media Films | Release Date: March 21, 2014 | PG-13

Summary: David Portnoy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a 15-year-old birding fanatic, thinks that he's made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father's remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history.

Director: Rob Meyer

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 86 min

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Critic Reviews

Mary Houlihan

Mar 20, 2014

The young actors shine revealing lights on their characters. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Sheila O'Malley

Mar 21, 2014

A tender and gentle coming-of-age story, as well as a meditation on grief and letting go. It is also that very rare thing, a movie about teenagers where the characters actually seem like real teenagers, as opposed to mini posing adults. Read full review

Marc Mohan

Mar 27, 2014

In spite of its familiar outlines, director Rob Meyer's first feature benefits from an authentic script and performances. Read full review

Ronnie Scheib

Mar 18, 2014

The constant, genial comic undercurrent of teenspeak exchanges, penned by the writing team of helmer Meyer and Luke Matheny, contrasts satisfyingly with Kingsley’s wry musings and the more serious treatment given to David’s evolving maturity. Read full review

Drew Hunt

Mar 19, 2014

The film exhibits strong character interplay and resides in an unconventional milieu, in effect turning rote material into something that feels decidedly eccentric. Read full review

Jen Chaney

Mar 18, 2014

The film captures its lush, leafy settings with an understated evocativeness that fully immerses the audience in its sense of place. The problem is that the movie ultimately leans too heavily on that sense of understatement, failing to let genuine, unexpected emotion fully break through to the surface. Read full review

Sherilyn Connelly

Mar 18, 2014

While it doesn't quite encompass everything, the film's still a bit too busy for its own good. Read full review

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User Reviews

ClariseSamuels

Sep 15, 2014

Although this movie is ostensibly about birdwatching, the fanatical enthusiasm for this hobby is actually the background for coming-of-age, dealing with grief, and relationships between parents and teenagers. David Portnoy, a 15-year-old played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, is still coping with theAlthough this movie is ostensibly about birdwatching, the fanatical enthusiasm for this hobby is actually the background for coming-of-age, dealing with grief, and relationships between parents and teenagers. David Portnoy, a 15-year-old played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, is still coping with the death of his mother and the fact that only 1.5 years after the tragedy, his father (James Le Gros) is marrying the attractive nurse (Daniela Lavender) who tended to his mother in her dying days. David's chief consolation for his loneliness and grief are his two best friends (Michael Chen and Alex Wolff) at school, with whom he has formed the school's birdwatching society—referred to as “birding” only if one is truly serious and devoted to the cause.

Instead of being comic-book geeks or computer nerds, this birding society of three, which barely qualifies them for club status at their high school, is obsessed with collecting knowledge and sightings of every kind of bird species they can possibly identify in their geographical area. They are fans and devotees of a famous ornithologist who lives nearby and has published books on the subject, Dr. Konrad (eccentrically played by Ben Kingsley). When the club meets at the school library, despite their inability to attract and hold new club members, they amusingly conform to Robert's Rules of Order even if the Chair is obliged to say, “The Chair recognizes himself.” Their goal is to list and recognize countless bird species, and if possible, to sight endangered species. The real prize is the almost non-existent chance of sighting a bird that is supposed to be extinct, which David is sure he has one day when a strangely colored duck lands in the road in front of his bicycle.

The threesome set out to find the invaluable duck, which they hope has migrated to the nearest wildlife refuge area, and in so doing, David escapes his father's house the weekend before the wedding. The boy is haunted by memories of his deceased mother, an expert birder who taught him her skills, and is also awkwardly establishing tentative romantic relations with his first girlfriend (Katie Chang). His disappointment in his father's decision to re-marry so soon has put a pronounced strain on their relationship.

Although lacking the sentimentality and misty-eyed idealism of say, The Summer of '42, this coming-of-age story has a certain charm, as the scholarly pursuit of birdwatching by teenagers who have all the time in the world to perfect their art provides an unusual and interesting twist.… Expand