The Big Year

The Big Year is a 2011 film adaptation of the 2004 book by Mark Obmascik starring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson as three birders, each trying to break the "Big Year" record of most bird species seen in North America in a calendar year. Inspired By the true story of the 1998 Big Year competition, it follows Black as Brad Harris, a computer programmer with an expert knowledge of bird calls who's saved up enough money to finally do a Big Year; Martin as Stu Preissler, a corporate executive on the verge of retirement; and Wilson as Kenny Bostick, a contractor and the current record-holder with 732 species.

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Tropes used in The Big Year include:

• Adorkable: Ellie.
• Benevolent Boss: Brad's supervisor isn't really into birding and seems to find his obsession with it slightly odd, but is nonetheless remarkably understanding about short-notice requests for time off to chase rarities.
• Big Brother Mentor: Stu becomes one to Brad.
• California Doubling: British Columbia and the Yukon doubled for most of the American settings.
• Conspicuous CG: The CG birds are quite realistic, but occasionally they drift towards this territory.
• Cool Old Guy: Stu.
• Cool Old Lady: Brad's mother.
• Cursed with Awesome: Stu lost his sense of smell in an accident with industrial chemicals, which comes in very handy chasing rare birds at a garbage dump.
• Determinator: All three main characters, in their own ways.
• The Film of the Book: That probably very few people reading the original book ever expected to see.
• Flipping the Bird: Bostick, to two birders who complain about him pushing ahead of them at one point.
• Going To See The Rare Birds
• Gotta Catch Them All: This is a movie about birders.
• Happily Married: Stu and his wife, Edith.
• Happy Dance: After Brad finds out Ellie broke up with her boyfriend.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: John Cleese narrates a short film explaining the history of Christmas Bird Counts and Big Years, as well as further commentary tracks for the Extended Edition.
• Horrible Camping Trip: The honeymooning couple on Attu.
• In Vino Veritas: When Brad first tells Stu about his Big Year attempt.
• Inspired By: To quote the opening titles: "This is a true story. Only the facts have been changed." Though aside from the characters' names being changed, their personal lives being fictionalised and the story being reset in the 2000s, the movie actually follows the nonfiction book it was based on quite closely for the most part.
• Insistent Terminology: Stu corrects a colleague who makes the mistake of calling birding "bird watching." Definitely Truth in Television in this case.
• Invisible Advertising: Fox hardly promoted the film, only releasing a trailer one month before release and having said trailer completely lie about the premise.
• Knowledge Broker: Rare bird alert hotlines.
• Living MacGuffin: Any bird, really, but the snowy owl in particular takes this role for Kenny, as does the pink-footed goose for Brad and Stu.
• Never Trust a Trailer
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Unlike the book, the names of the participants were changed and the events of the 1998 Big Year record attempts were explicitly changed to another year, despite the exact series of unusual weather events that made the 1998 record possible being accurately depicted.
• Peking Duck Christmas.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Bostick
• Rivals Team Up: Brad and Stu towards the end, on the theory that someone has to beat Bostick's record.
• Second Place Is for Losers: Invoked by Bostick in a discussion with his wife but ultimately deconstructed at the end by Brad and Stu.
• Self-Made Man: Stu.
• Serious Business: Birding.
• Setting Update: Very subtle example, with obviously modern cellphones, at least one hybrid vehicle and a minor blogging subplot added to an adaptation of a book about events that took place in 1998.
• Shout-Out: To Real Life: At one point Stu suggests Bostick might be aiming for "some ridiculous number" for a new record, when Brad asks what would be a ridiculous number he replies "740? 745?": 745 being the actual record Sandy Komito set in 1998...
• Shown Their Work: Thankfully played straight, for the most part, with accurate depictions of birds and their calls.
• Snow Means Death: Played with: Brad starts to worry about his father, who recently had a heart attack, and becomes increasingly agitated while trying to find him after the two split up in a forest with snow falling all around them but it turns out he's fine and has just found the great gray owl they were looking for.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Brad's cantankerous father thinks there are better ways his son could spend his time and money.
• Wildlife Commentary Spoof: John Cleese's narration.