The Humbling Vs Birdman

Many reviewers have remarked on the similarities. Both main characters are actors having an ego crisis and both films have that magical realism aspect. Not to mention an almost identical scene where they get locked out of the theater. But both films were released at exactly the same time (August 2014), so it could be just a coincidence. It did take a very long time to write the script for Birdman, and reportedly during the writing Inarritu consulted MANY people in the industry for their opinions on how feasible it would be to shoot it as a continuous take, so word was definitely out about the project. And it's possible that when Pacino brought the screenplay of The Humbling to Barry Levinson, he knew about Birdman - though not necessarily about the exact plot or character. On the other hand, The Humbling was based on a 2009 novel so its plot & character came first. I still like to think it's the Hundredth Monkey effect where a phenomenon originates at the same time in completely separate and unrelated places simply because it was time for it to happen (and because we're all linked anyway).

Coincidence and also I think the similarities are not as much as people seem to suggest. They share a scene - the scene doesn't resolve in the same way. They share the surface similarity of the actor in crisis but not for the same reasons or the same plot circumstances.

The Humbling is a lot closer to The Dresser than it is to Birdman imo (I loved The Dresser and Birdman, like The Humbling slightly for its great beginning and ending..........the middle, not so much).

It's crazy, the similarities, and serves to highlight how shallow Birdman is in comparison.