THE BIRDCAGE. Directed and produced by Mike Nichols; written by Elaine May; Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Rated R.
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I just had another lesson about movies and high expectations. I've been an enthusiastic fan of Williams for years. One of the first comedy teams I can remember enjoying after Martin and Lewis was Nichols and May (the same folks in the credits above). And I've often heard how funny La Cage aux Folles is (this is the 1978 French movie The Birdcage is based upon; I haven't seen it, though, so I can't make comparisons). So I was expecting big laughs from The Birdcage. And it does deliver some laughs, don't get me wrong. Just not the order of magnitude that I was expecting.
It would be hard to imagine a more perfect premise for a farce than this: Gay couple Armand (Williams) and Albert (Lane) raised Armand's son Val (Dan Futterman) to adulthood. The very (actually almost unbelievably) straight Val comes home from college wanting to marry the daughter of an ultraconservative couple. For the all-important meeting of the in-laws, Val would really like it if Albert (who isn't just gay, but is the star attraction in an outlandish drag revue) could just disappear for the duration and if Armand could pretend to be straight. I mean, the possibilities for things going hilariously wrong here are almost endless!
But, outlandish as the storyline and some of the characters are, the whole thing has to be handled with a certain amount of sensitivity. We have to appreciate these wild characters as people with feelings. And this sensitivity is curiously missing in The Birdcage, making me more than a little uncomfortable with the relationships.
For example, no one seems to think that Val's request might be just asking too much of people that he supposedly loves and who have supported him all his life. Hey, I'm a parent and am used to outrageous demands from kids. But somebody should at least acknowledge when the demand is outrageous.
I could excuse a lot of philosophical disagreement, though, if the movie were funnier. Gene Hackman and, especially, Dianne Wiest, are fun to watch as the prospective in-laws. And Williams is good, but too restrained (yes, restrained!) to deliver his usual quota of laughs. Lane is much funnier, but with him we run into the philosophical/political problems again. Too much of his over-the-top performance is uncomfortably stereotypical. (And that goes double for Hank Azaria as the pair's housekeeper; he's funny but you definitely squirm as you laugh.)
Needless to say, viewers uncomfortable with a casual treatment of homosexuality should steer clear of The Birdcage. But the more liberal-minded (with sufficiently low expectations!) will probably find it entertaining.
March 27, 1996