Production Year: 1996 - Comedy - Director: Mike Nichols - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Christine Baranski more
In Mike Nichols's hilarious remake of the 1978 French comedy LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, Robin Williams stars as Armand Goldman, a gay cabaret owner who lives in Miami's South Beach with... more
The Birdcage DVD
Robin Williams delivers his funniest performance since Mrs Doubtfire in this non-stop ... more
hilarious comedy audiences and critics adore. Williams stars as Armand the outlandish owner of a wild Miami Beach nightclub whose partner Albert is also the star ...
The Birdcage
Robin Williams delivers his funniest performance since Mrs Doubtfire in this non-stop ... more
hilarious comedy audiences and critics adore. Williams stars as Armand, the outlandish owner of a wild Miami Beach nightclub, whose partner Albert, is also the star attraction at the club. Gene Hackman (Crimson Tide) is the ultra conservative US Senator Keeley, who faces political problems when his closest political ally dies in his bed with a prostitute. When Armand's son Val, announces his engagement with Keeley's daughter, the scene is set for riotous comedy of errors. Keeley sees the wedding as the opportunity to restore political fortunes by promoting 'traditional family values'. If only he knew what sort of family his daughter was marrying into! Put the two families together and watch the sparks fly in this hilarious battle of the three sexes!
The Birdcage Movie Poster
Original UK Mini Quad; Rolled Poster; Poster Condition: New; Size: 16 x 12 inches approx. ... more
All our items are despatched from the United Kingdom. Starring - Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman We offer *** WORLDWIDE *** Delivery!, Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
Allow up to 14 Days for delivery as item is manufactured to order. Your poster is professionally mounted on a High Quality Canvas resulting in a fine piece of Art for your enjoyment. A modern and popular alternative to framing a poster which also makes an ideal gift. Process is irreversible please see our help information for further details., Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
Allow up to 14 Days for delivery as item is manufactured to order. Your poster is professionally mounted on a High Quality Canvas resulting in a fine piece of Art for your enjoyment. A modern and popular alternative to framing a poster which also makes an ideal gift. Process is irreversible please see our help information for further details., Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
Allow up to 14 Days for delivery as item is manufactured to order. Your poster is laminated and mounted on High Quality Float Frame resulting in a fine piece of Art for your enjoyment. A modern and popular alternative to framing a poster which also makes an ideal gift. Process is irreversible please see our help information for further details., Manufacturer: MoviePostersDirect
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Production Year: 1999 - Comedy - Director: Paul Weitz - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eugene Levy
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
A review by dogscoff on The Birdcage (DVD) December 5th, 2000
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
well written, well acted, well directed . Superb .
Disadvantages:
A wasted opportunity for a kicking disco soundtrack
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Yeah, OK, this is a funny film, but that's not all. There are plenty of films out there which can make me laugh out loud but not many of them have such good characters or such gentle treatment of sensitive subjects.
Armand and Albert are a gay couple who 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 Armand gets a few laughs for playing up to the stereotype.
Normally I would take offence 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 well, some underplaying their parts to perfection, others overplaying superbly. The responses of the couple to the awkward situation their son has put them in are utterly believable, and although the meal scene at the end has all the makings of a classic farce, it never really resorts to crude or insensitive humour.
The other thing which sticks with me about this film is the ending. It's nice to se a Hollywood film in which the conflicting parties (ie the gay couple and the consrvative couple) come to terms with one another without needing to indulge in Ricky Lake style outpourings, revelations and confrontations.
Altogthr this is a clever and sensitive film which just happens to be really funny. Highly recommended.
Advantages: Sharp witty and intelligent despite being fairly simple Disadvantages: Could be considered to be making fun of gay people
...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 ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...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. ...
Read review
...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 ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: The acting of Nathan Lane and Robin Williams. Excellent. Disadvantages: Seems to end a little too soon and abruptly.
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 ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Hilarious! Disadvantages: None at all!
...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! ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Plot: Val Goldman returns home from college to tell his family that he plans to marry his fiancee Barbara Keeley. Val's gay father realises that he must hide his alternative lifestyle from his future in-laws.
In Mike Nichols's hilarious remake of the 1978 French comedy LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, Robin Williams stars as Armand Goldman, a gay cabaret owner who lives in Miami's South Beach with his partner, Albert (Nathan Lane), the club's star performer. Armand and Albert must try in vain to pass as a typical couple when the prospective in-laws of Armand's son, Val (Dan Futterman), come for dinner. While accepting their alternative lifestyle personally, Val demands that they tone it down for his girlfriend's (Calista Flockhart) parents--who happen to be a political couple running on a family values platform. Lane's hilarious attempts to "play it straight" and Hank Azaria's brilliantly flamboyant houseboy, Agador, are the highlights of the film, which also features a beautifully understated Williams as the more "normal" of the pair. Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest are delightfully square as the future in-laws.
Special Features: 8 Page Making Of Booklet, Interactive Menu Screens, Chapter Search, Original Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English French German Italian Spanish
Professional reviews
Review: "Enchantingly funny....The beauty of THE BIRD CAGE is that its jokes and its message are one and the same..." -- Rating: A- (Entertainment Weekly, p.46, 29/03/1996)
"...A nicely restrained Williams lets Nathan Lane as his high-strung diva companion rule the roost in this fluttery, funny [film]..." -- 3 out of 4 stars" (USA Today, p.1D, 08/03/1995)
"...THE BIRDCAGE is a scream....Performed with matchless aplomb and made with plush professionalism....[The film] serves up pure pleasure..." (Variety, 04/03/1996)
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since : 13/07/2000
Compare The Birdcage (DVD) to other similar Comedy
