The Birdcage (DVD)

A film in which Robin Williams is truly at his funniest, The Birdcage is a brilliant film which takes the classic story and turns into a fast paced superbly cast comedy. An all star cast includes Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Diane West, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockheart, Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski. With brilliant performances all round and an especially enjoyable performance from Gene Hackman as we see that he can take lines to make the audience as well as making himself physically hilarious by dressing up as a women. Armand, an owner of a Miami Beach nightclub, lives with his partner Albert who's also the star attraction of the ...  Read the complete review

I have to admit I've put off watching this film for some time. The plot sounded like it would not be something that would entertain me. Two middle-aged gays try to act straight to impress the prospective in-laws of the son of one of them. With a star cast including Robin Williams and Gene Hackman, directed by Mike Nichols and a screenplay by Elaine May, based on the original French play "La Cage aux Folle", the credentials at least are good. I finally saw it last night and quite enjoyed it, though this is no masterpiece. The whole film is very lightweight and lacks any of the real grittyness of the French original. All of the ...  Read the complete review

"The Birdcage" is a fantastic film full of wonderful comic moments that cause a person to 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. Gene Hackman is wonderfully blubbering in his role as a senator, Dianne Weist is charming as an oppressed housewife ...  Read the complete review

Robin Williams is brilliant in this film, what a fantastic piece of casting. This film is from a French story called "La cage au Folles" (which, by the way is also brilliant). It is about a homosexual nightclub owner and his son. The son falls in love with the daughter of a big time pollitician. She decides that before they get married, she wants to meet his parents, so his father has to pretend to be a 'cultural attache to Greece' and his gay partner has to pretend to be his wife. Cue lots of gay jokes, emotions and fits of laughter. What a film. Robin Williams is brilliant in this role, and he works really well with his ...  Read the complete review

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 and suggests that his father meets his future in-laws. What follows thereafter is sheer carnage, on a hilariously funny scale. The future in-laws are from a very straight background with the father (Gene ...  Read the complete review