The Birdcage (DVD)

...run a drag club in the heart Florida's gay community. When the son they raised brings home the daughter of an ultra-conservative politician as his bride-to-be, they have to decide whether or not to hide their sexuality, and if so, how. Now it seems clear from the start that there will be plenty of jokes in there at the expense of the gay community, and thre are. Albert shrieks and whoopsies his way through the film, and even the relatively butch ...
...at a film which takes the micky out of any persecuted minority, but this film pokes fun out of the gay community so gently and affectionately that it is impossible to be offended. More to the point the film demonstrates beautifully (and there are still plenty of ppl who don't yet undrstand this point) that gay people can be good parents, and that their relationships can be just as deep and valid as straight ones. The actors all do their jobs extremely ...

dogscoff 05.12.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...of manners and switched identities. The story follows gay couple Robin Williams and Nathan Lane when their son (by William’s former girlfriend) announces that he’s getting married, to the daughter of the most homophobic senator in the US. With a meeting of the two families scheduled they try to tone down the whole place and pass themselves off as a straight household. Despite the overtones of humour at homosexual’s expense, this is awesome, and credit ...

pabdesign 03.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...Stiller, Almost Live, Kids in the Hall, and The State being cancelled). It was incredibly successful at the box-office for many good reasons. Not nearly as exploitive as I thought it would be. Robin Williams is amazingly restrained throughout, he just lets Nathan Lane take the whole show. Gene Hackman is perfectly cast. A good movie all-round and you should make time to see. ...

Andy 23.09.2000 · Read full review
Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...redoing Pedro Almodovar's Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown for American audiences petered out before it began. Therefore, its with some relief that Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is pretty darn entertaining, Fortunately, with Elaine May's screenplay as a point of departure, the Americanized version of the 1978 French hit, La Cage Aux Folles (which itself spawned two sequels and a Broadway musical), delivers laughs at the expense of a "right" ...
...Regarding Henry and Postcards From The Edge were murky prospects. So, it seems logical that Nichols would draw from his award-winning Working Girl for his good-luck talisman blessing. Indeed, The Birdcage opens with a pan across the water, much like Working Girl. We enter alien waters into a new realm and onto a new shore. But these waters are Southern kitsch not Manhattan chic, though nobody sweats (except Robin Williams) and the humidity is purely ...

Tazz 13.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

The Birdcage was always going to be a success in my eyes, given that Robin Williams plays a prominent role in the movie. His acting ability is something to be savoured and he is no different in this movie. The film is set in South Beach, a place where to be straight is rather unusual but to be gay is very much the norm. Armand (Robin Williams) and his partner Albert (Nathan Lane) own a club called the Birdcage. One day Armand's son comes to visit ...
...a hilariously funny scale. The future in-laws are from a very straight background with the father (Gene Hackman) a Republican senator high on Christian values. It all makes for an extremely funny and fairly exciting climax to the movie. The only downside is that you feel the movie could go on a little further than it actually does. Albert's attempts to get himself into the role of a straight man is nothing short of hysterical and is quite possibly ...

antonio79 08.02.2007 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...Chewing gum? Huge crucifixes on the wall? You got it all, and more! Robin Williams excels himself in this, as do all the actors involved (see a young Ally McBeal for instance!). He is a gay man whose son has just got engaged to a young woman (Ally McBeal!), but her father is the political representative of a political party which is dedicated to upholding moral superiority... i.e. gay men are not included in their friends' lists! But disaster strikes, ...
...to visit the campest gay men in the world, what on earth will happen? You will laugh so hard you will cry, and if you are anything like me, then random quotes from the film will cheer you out of any depressive moments! Hilarious, fun, colourful, and (unusually) better than the original, in my opinion, get it now! ...

purplepippa 12.05.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...a homosexual father dealing with the fact that his son is not telling the truth to his fiancee's parents, because he is embarrassed about his father and his father's partner. They twist in a very stressed politician who is meeting the parents of his daughters love interest and hoping that the "wholesome" family image will save him. Finding out that not everything you think is "wholesome" is. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are fantastic actors who ...

dragonscribe 28.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...is an updated version of the classic farce La Cage aux Folles relocating the story to MiamiBeach. It stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane who play a gay couple called Armand and Albert who are forced to play it straight for the sake of Armands son who has just got engaged. Lane really is over the top in outrageous drag queen gear while Robin Williams is unusually subdued by his standards. One of the funniest scenes is when Armand try to teach Albert ...

elspeth334 02.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

...burst out in hysterical laughter. The plot of two gay men trying to put on false heirs in order to impress their son's fiance's father and mother is written well and acted to, what I believe, to be comic perfection. Robin Williams is incredibly subdued in his role as Armand, playing the straight man to Nathan Lane during most of the movie. Nathan Lane is a bit too manic, but, nevertheless, manages to pull most of the laughs as a feminine drag queen. ...
...as an oppressed housewife to the senator, and Hank Azaria STEALS the show as a gay butler trying to play it straight by doing a "Sparticus" impression. Now, the film has gotten a lot of slack because it can't compete with it's original, French version "La Cage Aux Folles." This is true that "La Cage..." is the funnier of the two, but it doesn't detract from "The Birdcage" at all. Plus, an English version of "La Cage..." is so much funnier than a ...

peter_chrichard 16.08.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

the birdcage is an OK film, i wouldnt call it hilarious, or really funny! the film seems to take a while to get going, so the best time to watch it is when your in the mood to watch a LONG plot that finally unfolds to a rather funny ending. Robin Williams is quite good for the film, however he isnt totally beleivable, he kind of seems 'out of place' in this sort of film. on the other hand the whole hilight of the film is Nathan Lane who brings it ...
...but is similar to 'meet the fockers' its about a gay couple (the goldmans, Lane and Williams) who have a son, and hes getting married to the daughter of a normal family (the keeleys, Hackman). But the daughter has said that the Goldmans are a perfectly normal family. With Nathan Lane being such a drama queen you can tell theres going to be problems when they all get together for dinner, even the gay cleaner has to put some clothes on and get in on ...

button-moon 28.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Birdcage (DVD)

The cast boasts some excellent actors (Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and more) but in theis quirky tale they are two families from very differant backgrounds. Albert and Armand are a gay couple who have brought up Armands son Val, whilst running a night club - whose main attraction is Alberts alter ego drag queen Starina. When Val wants to marry a politicians daughter who comes from a very conservative background. The two families meet, ...
...who cannot walk in the shoes he is given for the grand occaision. It all sounds very silly, but there is real heart to this film, and the characters may be outrageous but are just right for this story. A wonderful pick me up or a downright laugh of an evening which is not over sugared, but tender leaves you feeling silly and a little stiff round the laughter lines. ...

CaraBee 22.02.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of The Birdcage (DVD)