I added The Big Year, an adaptation of Mark Obmascik’s 1998 book “The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession,” to the database back in March 2010. Since then I had pretty much forgotten about it entirely until Fox sent out a first image from the film promoting the upcoming October 14 release and offering the following synopsis:
Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson are at a crossroads — one is experiencing a mid-life crisis, another a late-life crisis, and the third, a far from ordinary no-life crisis. From David Frankel, the director of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me, comes a sophisticated comedy about three friendly rivals who, tired of being ruled by obligations and responsibilities, dedicate a year of their lives to following their dreams. Their big year takes them on a cross-country journey of wild and life-changing adventures.
Curiously, that description doesn’t seem to mirror the one that came with the film’s original announcement too closely, which said it follows three men who try to outdo each other in a bird-watching competition to spot the rarest birds in North America. The rivalry is an allegory for the challenges each faces in his own life. With that, the poster makes sense.
Now today we have a trailer for the film which co-stars Brian Dennehy, Rashida Jones, Rosamund Pike and Dianne Wiest and is produced by Ben Stiller. The screenwriter is Howard Franklin who penned Bill Murray’s Quick Change and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Name of the Rose and his most recent script was for 2001’s Antitrust, which I think I saw but can’t remember… that can’t be a good sign can it?
Have a look at the trailer below and see what you think? Quality? Or can you see why Fox decided not to do much promotion until a month in advance of release?
