Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.
The Anniversary: The Birdcage
Can it really be 25 years since The Birdcage became an unexpected box office smash? It’s true: 1996 saw the Robin Williams-Gene Hackman-led comedy bring gay life and relationships into the American zeitgeist…not to mention some of the best one-line zingers ever committed to film.
The plot, in case you’ve forgotten: The Birdcage resets the classic French comedy La Cage aux Folles to South Beach. Armond (Williams) and his longtime boyfriend Albert (Nathan Lane) own a drag club together, where Albert performs as the show’s leading lady. When their son Val (Dan Futterman) gets engaged to Barbra (Callista Flockhart), all Hell breaks loose: Barbra is the daughter of the conservative Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman), one very much opposed to gay rights (or, for that matter, gay people even existing). When Val, Barbra the Senator and his thoughtful wife Louise (Dianne Weist) turn up in South Beach to meet the family, Albert enlists Val’s biological mother Katherine (Christine Baranski) and his housekeeper Agador (Hank Azaria) to keep Albert a secret.
Got all that? The cast list of The Birdcage reads like a whose-who of the Greatest Actors Alive: rarely does a cast like this get put to good use, let alone have so much obvious fun. We chalk that up to the direction by Mike Nichols and the screenplay by Elaine May. The pair had a longtime comic partnership. In the hands of Nichols–possibly the greatest director of actors in movie history–May’s searing jokes play with an almost musical rhythm. Watching the actors banter is like watching an Olympic tennis match.
The Birdcage also deserves credit for its groundbreaking (by Hollywood standards, anyway) depiction of a queer family. The film touches on a number of major issues–marriage equality, gay parenting, surrogacy, Right-wing nincompoopery–that wouldn’t become major issues for another decade. Then, of course, there are the performances–each a gem in its own right. Robin Williams gives one of his best-ever performances (and that says something), while Nathan Lane should have had an Oscar nomination for his brilliant, over-the-top characterization of Albert. Azaria gives an equally outrageous performance, and while some modern critics have attacked him for playing a whitewashed Latino man, we always just assumed Agador was trying to pass himself off as Latin to add to his mystique. It seems like something his character would do.
Ahead of its time, howlingly-funny and with an all-star cast to boot, we suggest celebrating this pride month by revisiting The Birdcage. Try to watch it without wanting to quote the dialogue later.
Streams on Amazon, Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu, YouTube & VUDU.
GayEGO
What a great movie, my husband and I saw it in 1997
McSteve
My issue with the story is that the right-wing parents are supposed to be the ‘villains’ in this story but it’s the son who is truly the asshole. The way he treats his parents, the hurtful words and actions make this character truly repulsive. But the conservative parents were the ones who needed the comeuppance? For me, the script never really redeemed the son or daughter-in-law.
Hdtex
Sorry your little reich-wing feelings got all hurt and stuff.
LumpyPillows
I agree that the son was a douche. The senator is irredeemable also, no sympathy for him.
jniceny
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The son is embarassed by his parents. This movie is offensive to me as an out gay man. And the performances are horrible–Boys in the Band has stereotypes that ring true to me. Bird Cage has stereotypes that are unrealistically over the top and don’t ring true–not even close.
jniceny
hdtex, I guess you aren’t as woke as you thought, because this movie is homophobic.
webfire
This movie is ok, but it doesn’t compare to the original
PoetDaddy
If you think this is a good movie, you (a) never saw the original, “La Cage aux Folles,” or (b) you just have no idea what a good movie is. “Birdcage” is dreck.
eeebee333
I strongly agree. The Birdcage is utterly mediocre. Skip it and watch La Cage aux Folles. And please watch the subtitled version, not the dubbed.
Ronbo
True. This was a Hollywood creation that felt like a parody of a really good movie. All the mincing, prancing and ‘over the top’ stereotypes still feels like an insult.
“To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” seems a similar example of Hollywood inauthenticity.
Both were fun movies; but, they made me wince and I hated when I had to explain that they weren’t about gay people, they were about how straight people envision being gay.
Preppy1000
I agree. “La Cage” was 100X better, funnier and way ahead of its time. Saw “The Birdcage” with 3 str8 friends on opening night. We were horrified. It had offensive stereotypes, unfunny humor and was horribly condescending. Hank Azaria’s lisping accent almost had me running for the exit.
Doug
Preppy1000: I totally agree with you. The Nathan Lane character is a total, screaming stereotype; I didn’t find anything humorous about his character, he actually came off as mentally ill. I thought this film was one of the most offensive portrayals of gay men I’ve ever seen, even worse than “The Gay Deceivers.”
Seth
With all of the truly amazing queer cinema out there, how does the gay “Amos and Andy” even rate? This is “classic” in the sense that it comforted straight people with histrionic stereotypes. Hard pass.
Joshooeerr
Agree 100%. I’m still staggered that The Birdcage is now considered something of a gay classic. The original French film played almost exclusively to straight audiences who came to laugh at the stereotype of the mincing queen, and the American adaptation is only slightly better. At least Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman’s musical adaptation was a degree more politically aware, at least for its time.
Cam
What bugged me about this movie, wasn’t just the over the top portrayal, but the fact that Lane was still pretending to be straight when it came out. The movie was already dated considering it was a remake of a movie that came out years and years earlier.
Kangol2
It’s a flawed, retrograde that traffics in stereotypes but Lane’s performance as “Mother,” particularly when she starts spouting right-wing claptrap, is quite funny. Every time I’ve seen that bit, I think about all of the right-wing gays who don’t even see how self-oppressive their support for anti-gay right-wing politicians are. The original is, as most people on here are saying, far superior.
rand503
I saw the original when my high school French teacher took us — back in 1979!
I love both versions. Sure the Birdcage is over the top, but it was for many straight people the first time they saw a loving gay couple. They had the same problems as straight parents — ungrateful kids, keeping up appearances, a divorce, hurt feelings, etc. But in the end, the couple loves each other. At a time when straight people thought our relationships were all about sex, they saw two guys who were pretty much just like them.
And after all, it’s a COMEDY, people. In every comedy, people act offensive. Heck, nearly everyone in Shitt’s Creek is an over the top stereotype, but I don’t see anyone complaining.
Chrisk
Agreed. I think I’ve watched it three times at this point and I always laugh. The complainers think everything has to represent them I guess. Yes it’s stereotypical but it’s also comedy gold. Nathan Lane and Robin Williams were great in it.
Openminded
Very good points and I, too, love the movie. Of course, I watch movies for entertainment and don’t typically try to read too much into them as far as “political correctness goes”.
Cam
@Openminded
What a shock, one of the right wing troll screenames uses any excuse to attack “Political Correctness” What happened, did you overuse “Cancel Culture” this week?
Openminded
Oh What a Shock! Cam, once again couldn’t resist trolling my post and finding only negative things to say about it. Why do you think it is your job to troll this site and point out anyone who has opinions that do not align with your narrow minded way? I’m so glad my life is obviously much happier than yours.
LumpyPillows
It is a funny movie, but with today’s woke harpies, I can’t believe they approve.
Cam
WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
yendor808
This is the worse POS movie ever. Nothing compares to the original. By the time this American version came out it was far outdated and so lame. Trying to get laughs from old stereotypes.
Essie
I didn’t like it 25 years ago because there were zero gay actors (except for Nathan who was still pretending to be straight). Even back then I thought that was stupid. My friend took me to see the movie and he laughed so hard AT the actors, not with them. I recently re-watched it (last week, actually) and couldn’t even get through to the end. It was kind of embarrassing. I’m not gay but I do think, if possible, a gay actor should play a gay character. I think calling a gay-centric movie “queer comedy at its best” when there are no gay actors involved is just silly.
KyleMichelSullivan
Watched it when it first came out. Didn’t like it then; still don’t. It was almost insulting in its attitudes and portrayals.
“La Cage…” made a lot more sense, being set in a strongly Catholic country and the daughter being much younger and her father being a control freak. This version…the whole set-up was nonsense.
Harvey Fierstein made it work on-stage by making the son the villain, which he was in both film versions but at least it was understandable in the French one. In this thing? He’s just a dick.
I love Robin Williams, but he was undercut in this….
CityguyUSA
I’ve seen way better.