Pretty Bird

A thoroughly engaging human saga
A Sundance Dramatic Grand Jury Prize nominee, Pretty Bird is an eyebrow-raising adventure of the lengths to which ordinary Americans may go to pursue their extraordinary dreams. When three unusual inventors - a charming entrepreneur, a compassionate mattress store proprietor, and a rocket scientist with a bleak worldview - team up to create a rocket belt company, the put everything they have on the line in hope of finding success. Pretty Bird blends skewed comedy, genuine warmth, and the drive to see the results of one's labor made real into a thoroughly engaging human saga. Highly recommended. 98 minutes, widescreen, rated R for language and a scene of sexuality.

"No one will doubt what you do..."
PRETTY BIRD (prod. Paul Giamatti, 2008) Ah, first reviewer. That has only happened to me twice before over the course of 120 film critiques (and counting). Pity it had to be this film.

I missed this in its maiden year, though I can't be sure it was released in theaters. I have to make an educated guess and say it was theatrically released. It would have been declared the biggest box office rip-off of all time if anybody had seen it. I recall seeing on the news a man flying a jetpack over the Swiss Alps. It was real, and it was cool. That popped into my mind as I suffered this film.

This film set in the present day purports to be a story about the building and testing of a jetpack. It even begins with a written 'history', describing Bell Labs' perfection of a working prototype and the military's rejection of it. It then goes on to say that hasn't stopped inventors from working on jetpacks (which they keep calling a "belt").

PRETTY BIRD proclaims itself...

PRETTY BIRD - PRETTY GOOD!
It's storyline is surprisingly close to the actual events of the TRUE STORY of the RB2000 Rocketbelt. It shows how money, power, fame, fortune and greed can twist and turn people against one another and change a wonderful dream into a total nightmare. Add to that the mufti-talented Paul Giamatti and actor Billy Crudup and the (underused) comedic antics of SNL's Kristen Wigg make Pretty Bird a very unique film that should have made it to the silver screen of the major movie theaters.

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