The Birdcage
| Not what you're looking for? Try smart custom search: |
Customer Review
Why Does the Caged Bird Sing....?
This review refers to MGM DVD edition of "The Birdcage".....Those eyes!...those sighs!...those thighs!....Who are we talking about here? Marilyn? Raquel? maybe even Jay Lo? Nope. None of the above. We're talkin Nathan Lane, who is simply mahvelous darling as the one, the only.. "Starina!", star attraction at South Beach, Florida's gay cabaret "The Bird Cage".Directed by Mike Nichols(The Graduate/Primary Colors), with a brillant screenplay by Elaine May,and a cast that will knock your socks off, this update of Jean Poiret's (see my review for film details) will have you laughing out loud from the first to the last frame of this wonderful film.Armand Goldman(Robin Williams),owner of the lavish nightclub, and his long time lover and companion Albert(Nathan Lane) are about to have some...
Top to learn more
Nathan Lane and Robin Williams! Wonderful Casting!
One of the funniest movies that I have seen in ages! Robin Williams is not the funny one here, it is Nathan Lane's character, Albert, that gets the most laughs. This movie has made me a life-long Nathan Lane fan. Both Williams (whose character is Armand Goldman) and Lane play gay men, with William's role being the dominant or male character. Since I am not gay, it is hard for me to define gender definitions of gay couples, but in this movie, there can be no missing the fact that Lane is the female side of the couple. When William's son comes to tell Dad of his impending marriage to a young woman (played admirably by Calista Flockhart) and to plead with Dad to pretend to be straight when he meets the girl's parents, as her father is a very straightlaced Senator in D.C.(played by Gene Hackman),trouble starts, in the form of hurt feelings and feelings of rejection to the other member of the relationship, namely, Albert. All kinds of solutions are considered to try and work him in to...
Top to learn more
Product Description
Armand and Albert have a home life many would envy. They share a long-term committed relationship encompassing their lives and careers, and have together raised Armand's son, Val, into a caring, responsible, and mature young man. So, when Val arrives home and announces his engagement to the daughter of an ultra-conservative U.S. Senator, what choice is there but to accept his decision with love? Meanwhile, Senator Keeley and his wife are facing bigger problems than their daughter's unexpected engagement. The senator is watching his right-wing constituency evaporate with the scandalous demise of his closet political ally. A visit to the future in-laws could be just the thing to take the public's focus off the Keeley's messy predicament. With the impending visit of his fiancee's rigid family, Val asks his father to straighten up the apartment just a bit. All it entails is the removal or Armand's collection, furnishings, clothes, job...and Albert. Top to learn more
The great improvisational comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May reunited to (respectively) direct and write this update of the French comedy La Cage Aux Folles. Robin Williams stars as a gay Miami nightclub owner who is forced to play it straight and ask his drag-queen partner (Nathan Lane) to hide out when Williams's son invites his prospective--and highly conservative--in-laws and fiancée to a meet-and-greet dinner party. Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest play the straight-laced senator and his wife, and Calista Flockhart (from television's Ally McBeal) plays their daughter in a culture-clash with outrageous consequences. May's witty screenplay incorporates some pointed observations about the political landscape of the 1990s and takes a sensitive approach to the comedy's underlying drama. Topping off the action is Hank Azaria in a scene-stealing role as Williams's and Lane's flamboyant housekeeper, "Agador Spartacus." --Jeff Shannon Top to learn more
Funny Williams, Superb Nathan Lane
American audiences flocked to this remake of the French classic, "La Cage Aux Folles" - perhaps the funniest comedy ever released in ANY language. It's no surprise that the US viewer could easily lose his or herself in this laugh riot, especially with the incomparable Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in starring roles. Lane is delicious here as the top billed female impersonator and star at Birdcage, a drag extravaganza club owned by his better half Williams. While Williams tones down his Mork routine and actually softens as a result, as funny as he his, Lane steals the movie, with a warm, knowing performance that ranks up there with STeve Martin in "All of Me" as one of the best comedic works ever on film. Dan Futterman (brilliant in "Urbania") plays Williams' son with the right mix of charm and apprehension, while Calista Flockhart (yes, Ally McBeal herself) is strong as his fiance. And that's Hank Azaria (of "The Simpsons" and the ex-Mr...
Top to learn more







