Review #637: The Birdcage.
Cast
Robin Williams (Armand Goldman), Nathan Lane (Albert), Gene Hackman (Kevin Keeley), Dianne Wiest (Louise Keeley), Dan Futterman (Val Goldman), Calista Flockhart (Barbara Keeley), Hank Azaria (Agador), and Christine Baranski (Katherine Archer) Directed by Mike Nichols (#175 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and #550 - The Graduate)
Review
What we have is a wild, weird movie full of fun scenes that make a unique experience. The biggest reason this movie works is the cast, they all seem to just mesh together awkwardly, which makes sense given the premise. It really is Hackman's facial expressions that just sum up what kind of world he's in, and any time you can end a movie with him in disguise at a nightclub with he doing the most uncomfortable expressions ever is pure gold. Williams and Lane are just watchable in every scene they share together, I especially like the scene where Williams tries to demonstrate how to dance for a musical scene by channeling dances, such as Madonna. The way that Williams moves and his energy make a strange scene into a great one. Does the movie have its cliches? Yes, but it embraces them, this is a movie on its own terms, with some great music and some good jokes. What we have here is a movie that is flashy, silly fun with a touch of decor for flavor.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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