Movie about birdwatching is good fun

Left to right: Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.

It's not often you come across a movie about birdwatching. But, right now, if you hurry out to your local theater, you might still be able to catch The Big Year, starring three well known Hollywood actors.

The fanatical bird-watchers (Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black) spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of species as El Nino sends an extraordinary variety of rare breeds flying up into the U.S., but they quickly discover that there are more important things than coming out on top of the competition. Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley and Me) teams with screenwriter Howard Franklin to adapt author Mark Obmascik's 1998 book of the same name.

Movie critics have mostly liked the comedy, although non advises looking for it at the next Academy Awards. Here's what one bird watcher wrote after seeing it:

"This is an honest and sometimes funny look at what anyone with a hobby goes through. . . . I saw myself and what I've put my wife through at times in my pursuit of the birds and was surprised at how true to life it was portrayed. These are human beings that love birds and love being out in nature and that is what draws me out of my house to hunt these beautiful creatures with binoculars and books. If you want a nice movie that is about nature lovers that are chasing a dream and not about blowing something up or hacking someone to death then go see this movie. If you're a birding enthusiast don't be to critical of some of the glaring bird inaccuracies, just go with it."