Taylor Ferber | October 17, 2014 12:30 pm

Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a black comedy which archives the report of Riggan Thomas (Michael Keaton), a washed up, former action star who attempts to cling to his relevance by making a comeback on Broadway. While many take upon yourself the report reflects Keaton’s real life as the man who once defended Gotham in the black Batman suit (in 1988 and 1992), you’d be surprised to know how the actor really feels about trading in one suit for another.

Shot with a continuous release camera, Alejandro G. Iñárritu‘s report takes you on an unexpected journey, built by the wonderful and raw performances of Ed Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Andrea Riseborough in a film Entertainment Weekly claims will exchange Keaton’s career. The movie has a self-attentive tone in exploiting the narcissistic nature of actors, so much so that they have no problem showing off their birthday suit at the drop of a hat (cough Ed Norton cough).

Here are five things you should know before embarking on the surprisingly optimistic journey of ignorance that is Birdman.

Keaton claims his character Riggan Thomson/Birdman does not reflect him or his own life.

Although the report of Thomson almost mirrors Keaton’s career path, he feels otherwise. “I was playing a person, just a person. And I was both as connected to Riggan and as disconnected from him as you can possibly be. And I have to tell the truth about that,” he tells EW.

Of all the romantic report lines, Ed Norton and Emma Stone’s is the one you’ll root for.

You may think it’s a bit creepy (since he’s old enough to be her dad). I’ll admit I felt that way at first, but you really just have to embrace their relationship. The two put on such spectacular performances that even though they’re completely mismatched, it feels right. He’s an egotistical, pretentious stage actor who claims he doesn’t care what anyone thinks, while she’s insecure with an mind-set problem and cares too much about what people reckon. You’re attentive they both need to get their heads out of their asses, but before you know it, you’ll be rooting for them.

Ed Norton isn’t the only one who strips down in the movie. Keaton’s character indeed gets trapped running through Times Square in nothing but his tighty whities, so naturally, VH1 quizzed the cast on how well they could recognize fellow actors in really tight underwear.

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Tags: Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Michael Keaton, Ned Norton