History Film / TheBigYear

* AdultFear: Brad after realizing that he left his elderly father alone in the snowing woods while looking for the great grey owl, even though his father insisted to do so. Even more so, that it happened weeks after his stroke. [[spoiler:Thankfully nothing bad happened and both managed to see the owl.]]

* AdultFear: Also, Brad after realizing that he left his elderly father alone in the snowing woods while looking for the great grey owl, even though his father insisted to do so. Even more so, that it happened weeks after his stroke. [[spoiler:Thankfully nothing bad happened and both managed to see the owl.]]

* ShoutOut: To [[RealLife 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...
** If you look closely, Brad's boss has a [[TheSimpsons Mr. Burns]] bobblehead on his desk.

* YourCheatingHeart: Bostick's contractor rival, Frank Falucci, has a very handsome son that works with him in the reform of Bostick's house. Once Jessica learns that Bostick left for his longtime dream of watching the snowy owl, Falucci Jr. brings a drink to comfort her. A few days later, when Bostick comes home, she wakes up saying Falucci's name much to Bostick's displeasure. [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope However, she tells him that she was faithful to him all along]] despite his absence]].

* {{Adorkable}}: Ellie and her constant imitation of bird songs at any time.

* ConspicuousCG: The CG birds are quite realistic, but occasionally they drift towards this territory. Some of the more obvious examples were cut from the theatrical release, but included in the Extended Edition.

* SeriousBusiness: [[CaptainObvious Birding]].

''The Big Year'' is a 2011 [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of the 2004 [[RealLife nonfiction]] book by Mark Obmascik starring Creator/JackBlack, Creator/SteveMartin and Owen Wilson as three birders, each trying to break the "Big Year" record for the most bird species seen in North America in a calendar year. InspiredBy the true story of the 1998 Big Year competition (as recounted in Obmascik's book), 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.

!! Tropes in this film include:
* {{Adorkable}}: Ellie.

* CoolOldGuy: Stu.
* CoolOldLady: Brad's mother.
** Also Stu's wife, Edith.

* FlippingTheBird: Bostick, to two birders who complain about him pushing ahead of them at one point.

* HappilyMarried: Stu and his wife, Edith.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Bostick. Any time the film begins to portray him as not such a bad guy, he immediately does something selfish, rude or underhanded in the pursuit of victory.
** Although it's worth mentioning that [[spoiler:[[EvenEvilHasStandards he won't fudge his numbers]]]].

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Bostick]]

* RivalsTeamUp: [[spoiler: Brad and Stu]] towards the end, on the theory that someone has to beat [[spoiler: Bostick's record]].

* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Invoked by [[spoiler: Bostick in a discussion with his wife]] but ultimately deconstructed [[spoiler: at the end by Brad and Stu]].
* SeldomSeenSpecies: The driving force of the entire plot.

* SnowMeansDeath: Played with: [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope he's fine]] and has just found the great gray owl they were looking for]].

* WellDoneSonGuy: Brad's cantankerous father thinks there are better ways his son could spend his time and money.

''The Big Year'' is a 2011 [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of the 2004 [[RealLife nonfiction]] book by Mark Obmascik starring Creator/JackBlack, Creator/SteveMartin and Creator/OwenWilson as three birders, each trying to break the "Big Year" record for the most bird species seen in North America in a calendar year. InspiredBy the true story of the 1998 Big Year competition (as recounted in Obmascik's book), 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.

* TemptingFate: Brad reassures Stu that even though he missed the plane to Attu Island that he can still see lots of birds to see "unless there's a freak blizzard". Guess what happens.

* NewscasterCameo: Al Roker gives a report on storm that forces migrating birds to land in one place.

''The Big Year'' is a 2011 [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of the 2004 [[RealLife nonfiction]] book by Mark Obmascik starring Creator/JackBlack, SteveMartin and Owen Wilson as three birders, each trying to break the "Big Year" record for the most bird species seen in North America in a calendar year. InspiredBy the true story of the 1998 Big Year competition (as recounted in Obmascik's book), 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.

* ProductPlacement: Subtly done and not too pervasive, but we can tell that Bostick uses Zeiss binoculars and Stu and his family wear Spy ski goggles.

* ConspicuousCG: The CG birds are quite realistic, but occasionally they drift towards this territory.

* BlackAndNerdy: Dr. Kramer: Presumably an MD[[note]the RealLife individuals from the book that Kramer and Elkins are based on are both surgeons[[/note]] and definitely the holder of ''[[NotThatKindOfDoctor some]]'' kind of Doctorate, and [[ForegoneConclusion a birder]] to boot.

* BlackAndNerdy: Dr. Kramer: Presumably an MD and definitely the holder of ''[[NotThatKindOfDoctor some]]'' kind of Doctorate, and [[ForegoneConclusion a birder]] to boot.

* PekingDuckChristmas.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Creator/JohnCleese narrates a short film explaining the history of Christmas Bird Counts and Big Years, as well as further commentary tracks for the [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Extended Edition]].

* InvisibleAdvertising: Fox hardly promoted the film, only releasing a trailer one month before release and having said trailer completely lie about the premise.

''The Big Year'' is a 2011 [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of the 2004 [[RealLife nonfiction]] book by Mark Obmascik starring JackBlack, SteveMartin and Owen Wilson as three birders, each trying to break the "Big Year" record for the most bird species seen in North America in a calendar year. InspiredBy the true story of the 1998 Big Year competition (as recounted in Obmascik's book), 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.

** Also Stu's two assistants at his company.

* ArtisticLicenseOrnithology: Very minor example (not surprisingly - see ShownTheirWork below): in the scene near the beginning where the three protagonists start their big years on January 1 the stock footage used to represent Brad's view through his binoculars clearly shows at least three species of seagulls in view...then the counter graphic representing his species tally ticks over to ''one''.