The Birdcage

Robin Williams starred in a remake of the Franco-Italian film La Cage aux Folles in 1996 called The Birdcage. Directed by Mike Nichols, Williams stars alongside Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne West, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. It grossed $185 million and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.

Val Goldman (Futterman) and Barbara Keeley (Flockhart) are engaged to be married and decided to have their parents meet. But Val’s father, Armand Goldman (Williams) owns the South Beach gay club, The Birdcage and his lover is Albert (Lane who appears as the show’s star drag queen. Barbara’s father, Kevin Keeley (Hackman) is an ultraconservative Republican senator up for reelection.

The Birdcage is a very interesting movie, it starts off strange but ends up becoming really good. It starts off by throwing all the stereotypical gay characteristics at the viewer but ends up really that on its head. It also has great comedic moments that really come full circle with the film’s message.

The film presents all the gay stereotypes in rapid succession at the beginning of the film. Armand is the guy that could pass for straight if he weren’t running the club, Albert is the overly dramatic drag queen and Agador is the incredibly effeminate house boy. However, the film really ends up turning those stereotypes and presenting the humanity underneath them. It shows how Armand really doesn’t think he should change because someone doesn’t like him, Albert is just incredibly insecure in almost everything and Agador wants to be more than a houseboy. But when they all have to hide who they are for the Keeleys, it really brings in the comedic moments.

The film has great comedic moments that really bring around to how good of a film it is. The dinner scene is one that immediately comes to mind. Agador can’t cook and ends up making a quite lethal stew with shrimp and hard boiled eggs while the china is blatantly sexual. Albert also has incredibly hilarious reactions to nearly everything, such as screaming bloody murder when he accidentally honks the car horn.

This is quite an interesting movie and while it won’t ever be known as a cinematic classic, The Birdcage is quite good and a fun watch.