Michael Keaton is making a major comeback (for real this time)

Michael Keaton

Last night I revisited one of the most underrated movies of the 90's, Ron Howard's The Paper, a fast, funny and smart look at the a New York Post-like tabloid. The movie boasts an incredible cast (including Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei and Glenn Close) and is headlined by the great Michael Keaton.

It's fascinating to look back on a time when Keaton was a bankable, above-the-title movie star. Twenty years later, many film fans have wondered: "what happened?"

The easy answer is a lot of mediocre, forgettable movies that flopped. Remember Jack Frost, the movie where Keaton played a talking snowman? I hope not.

The truth is Keaton was always better than the material he chose, with a handful of key exceptions.

Still, when he was on his A-game, working with a truly great collaborator, like Tim Burton, he was one of the most unique and exciting leading men in movies.

He exploded onto the scene in 1982's Night Shift as a motormouth goofball who hatches a scheme to run a prostitution ring out of a morgue. His hot streak continued with the lightweight, but entertaining comedies Mr. Mom and Johnny Dangerously. In 1988, he had his big breakthrough, starring in the intense drama Clean and Sober and as the iconic "ghost with the most" in Beetlejuice.

Birdman

At this point everyone knows about the brouhaha over Keaton's casting as Batman in the 1989 blockbuster. Nowadays we can all laugh at the outrage since it's a commonly held opinion that Keaton's performance in that film and its 1992 sequel remains the definitive portrait of the Dark Knight to date. I agree. Christian Bale was terrific. But Keaton was the most believable Batman. As Burton put it so well, you could see him putting on the suit.

And then a strange thing happened. After he wisely passed on the campy direction the Batman series was taking with Batman Forever, he seemed to fade into obscurity. With the exception of a couple standout supporting roles in Jackie Brown and The Other Guys, Keaton was no longer the A-list icon he was in the late 80s and early 90s.

In the interim his work has been reappraised and he has become something of a hipster hero. He's popped up in direct-to-DVD dreck, cheesy family movies and in more amusing places, like on 30 Rock.

This year, for the first time in has career, he is generating serious Oscar buzz for a leading role in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's new comedy-drama Birdman. If the trailer is any indication, it's going to be a visual masterpiece, with Keaton re-taking his rightful place as the unconventional movie star he always was.

The film looks to be somewhat semi-autobiographical, as the now 62-year-old actor plays a washed up performer who is haunted by his most iconic character, the titular superhero Birdman. It's ironic that Keaton was such a controversial choice to play Batman, and now it's impossible for some audiences to see him as anything but that character.

As I've written before, the 1989 Batman is my favorite film of all time hence Keaton's lead performance also ranks among my favorites. It's a brilliant study in eccentricity with rage bubbling under the surface. Jack Nicholson chews the scenery with the showier role but it's Keaton who has the most compelling presence.

For those of us who recognized what a distinct talent Keaton was (even when his movies were a letdown) we've been waiting for him to make a major comeback. Now, twenty years after his last truly great lead role he seems poised to have the biggest year of his career.

I'm excited to see him soar again.