Bird 1988
Bird
Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
Videos & Photos
All 1 Videos & 9 Photoscast
Full Cast & Crew... Charlie 'Bird' Parker
... Chan Parker
... Red Rodney
... Dizzy Gillespie
... Buster Franklin
... Brewster
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews02 Feb 2022 by r96sk
I personally found 'Bird' - directed by Clint Eastwood - to be an absolute slog to sit through. It's an interesting story no doubt, but it's told in the most mundane and boring way possible. I didn't know anything about Charlie Parker beforehand, which is what kept that aforementioned interest there. I'm no jazz fan either, but I am always happy to listen to it when it comes up though. Despite that, I just couldn't get into the film itself. It just felt like it was 160 minutes (!) worth of the following on repeat: performance, drunk and/or depressed, performance, drunk and/or depressed etc. I didn't feel like I was learning anything about Parker and his life. I literally gave an internal cheer when the credits finally rolled around. I do enjoy Forest Whitaker as an actor and he is probably the reason I'm not rating this lower. As for the rest, I don't even recall any of them - though I'm putting that down to what I've already noted, as opposed to the cast themselves who I'm sure tried their upmost. Way too long, in short. As I said it's an intriguing person to make a film about, an around 100 minute production would've been perfect in my opinion. A shame, all in all.
Release Date:
Jun 01, 1988 (United States)
Run Time:
2hr 41`
MMPA Rating:
R
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:

Related Movies To
Bird
I personally found 'Bird' - directed by Clint Eastwood - to be an absolute slog to sit through. It's an interesting story no doubt, but it's told in the most mundane and boring way possible. I didn't know anything about Charlie Parker beforehand, which is what kept that aforementioned interest there. I'm no jazz fan either, but I am always happy to listen to it when it comes up though. Despite that, I just couldn't get into the film itself. It just felt like it was 160 minutes (!) worth of the following on repeat: performance, drunk and/or depressed, performance, drunk and/or depressed etc. I didn't feel like I was learning anything about Parker and his life. I literally gave an internal cheer when the credits finally rolled around. I do enjoy Forest Whitaker as an actor and he is probably the reason I'm not rating this lower. As for the rest, I don't even recall any of them - though I'm putting that down to what I've already noted, as opposed to the cast themselves who I'm sure tried their upmost. Way too long, in short. As I said it's an intriguing person to make a film about, an around 100 minute production would've been perfect in my opinion. A shame, all in all.
Cast & Crew of
Bird
Directors & Credit Writers
LN
Lloyd Nelson... Script Supervisor
... Director
Cast
... Charlie 'Bird' Parker
... Chan Parker
... Red Rodney
... Dizzy Gillespie
... Buster Franklin
... Brewster
... Esteves
... Young Bird
... Kim
... Dr. Heath
... Moscowitz
GW
Glenn Wright... Alcoholic Patient
... Patient with Checkers
... Dr. Caulfield
... Mayor of 52nd Street
CB
Chris Bosley... First Doorman
GTB
George T. Bruce... Second Doorman
JG
Joey Green... Gene
... Sid
... Frog