Bird

""There are no second acts in American lives.""

1988 2h 41m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 362🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●78Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 14,517

DramaMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

“"There are no second acts in American lives."”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Forest Whitaker
Charlie 'Bird' Parker
Diane Venora
Chan Parker
Michael Zelniker
Red Rodney
Samuel E. Wright
Dizzy Gillespie
Keith David
Buster Franklin
Michael McGuire
Brewster
James Handy
Esteves
Damon Whitaker
Young Bird

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Joel Oliansky
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 161 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora and Michael Zelniker carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: ""There are no second acts in American lives."".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Lennie Niehaus scores. Joel Cox cuts. A long sit — settle in. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 161 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
338 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora and Michael Zelniker carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: ""There are no second acts in American lives."".
9IMDB entry: tt0094747 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "jazz", "heroin", "saxophone", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack N. Green
Original score: Lennie Niehaus
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Edward C. Carfagno
Sound: Vern Poore
Runtime: 161 min · 2h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Box office: $2,000,000
Return: 22% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bird (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 78/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 14,517 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 10 wins & 9 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Sound

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Clint Eastwood

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2022-02-02
★ 5/10
I personally found <em>'Bird'</em> - directed by Clint Eastwood - to be an absolute slog to sit through. It's an interesting story no doubt, but it's told in the most mundane and boring way possible. I didn't know anything about Charlie Parker beforehand, which is what kept that aforementioned interest there. I'm no jazz fan either, but I am always happy to listen to it when it comes up though. Despite that, I just couldn't get into the film itself. It just felt like it was 160 minutes (!) worth of the following on repeat: performance, drunk and/or depressed, performance, drunk and/or depressed etc. I didn't feel like I was learning anything about Parker and his life. I literally gave an internal cheer when the credits finally rolled around. I do enjoy Forest Whitaker as an actor and he is probably the reason I'm not rating this lower. As for the rest, I don't even recall any of them - though I'm putting that down to what I've already noted, as opposed to the cast themselves who I'm sure tried their upmost. Way too long, in short. As I said it's an intriguing person to make a film about, an around 100 minute production would've been perfect in my opinion. A shame, all in all.

Production companies