Alejandro G. Inarritu

DiCaprio was always, first and foremost, a precocious talent. Since he’s become an iconic leading man now, it’s easy to forget that it’s almost always the prodigious talent first, combined with movie-star looks second, that adds up to a star with longevity, in the fickle world of showbusiness.

When we first see Michael Keaton in “Birdman,” Alejandro G. Inarritu’s bracingly inventive and accomplished new film about fame, relevance, self-worth, and lots of other intense stuff, he’s sitting in his white undies, in the middle of a dressing room.