A tale of nature, man, and a fowl obsession

 "The Big Year," based on the book of the same title, opens up with Jack Black narrating his love for birds and explaining a "big year," a year-long competition to see as many species of birds as possible.

The meaning of the plot begins to unfold along with the trials and tribulations following our main characters, but the comedy keeps to itself in the corner.

You see, each of these characters is portrayed in the film's advertising as friends who want to do it all. They've taken the year off from the normal grind and are out to accomplish all of the adventure and excitement they've missed out on throughout life.

We're presented with the imagery of flying through beautiful mountain tops, skiing down snowy slops, water rafting, rock climbing, biking and the eating of Oreo cookies.

Later within the trailer we're even presented with the tagline "When it comes to comedy, go big or go home!"

Owen Wilson, Jack Black and the iconic Steve Martin are all miscast in the film. When a trio of comedic geniuses step into a movie, you expect it to be a laugh-a-minute experience; "The Big Year" goes in a different direction. You get a few under-your-breath laughs here and there, but the bulk of the film pretty much falls flat when it comes to comedy.

Is "The Big Year" a bad movie? By all means no. It's real clean and tame when it does decide to tickle your funny bone, making it appropriate for the older crowd and families.

The subject of birding may sound like a bore to some, but the filmmakers have presented it in an engaging way that kept a bird loather like me interested. Others may complain how it focuses so much on the birds, but doesn't educate you about them enough.

Personally, if you want to learn about birds, I suggest doing some research. You shouldn't expect a Jack Black movie to be a bird encyclopedia.

The heart of the film lies in these three characters. Black and Martin's characters have a personal vendetta against the No. 1 birder in the world, played by Wilson.

The two of them become friends and decide to take him down. You get a peek into their personal lives and begin to see how passionate and even obsessed each of their characters is about bird watching.

Once you realize that you're not going to get these expected all-star comedic performances out of "The Big Year," it's much easier to just sit back and appreciate what was trying to be accomplished with this movie.

It's an old-fashioned portrayal of life and struggles we as humans have with each other and what we're passionate about.