I have heard from people over the years that "The Birdcage" is a good film and I thought it did fairly well at the box office. So I was hoping I would like it, and I wanted to like it... but I just can't bring myself to find a lot of redeeming qualities in this film.
What we have is a gay couple (Nathan Lane and Robin Williams) who have a grown son, and he is engaged to the daughter (Calista Flockhart) of a powerful conservative senator (Gene Hackman). When the senator gets invited to dinner, things get a little silly.
First, the nicest thing I can say is that the film is like a backwards version of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" because the socially acceptable people are entering the home of the social outcasts. But a backwards film exists already called "Guess Who", and I don't want to touch that. But anyway, in this context I guess the idea was alright.
Hank Azaria is also decent as the very flamboyant male maid (dressed more like a cabana boy). Any other actor doing this and I think the part would have been going over the top (as much of this film does), but Azaria is the kind of guy who makes over the top seem normal. And Calista Flockhart looks about as attractive as she ever could in this movie, which is the nicest thing I can say about her poor acting and usually poor screen presence.
The over-the-topness ruins some of what this film was trying to do, because it makes gays out to be extremely unlike other people, which I don't generally think is true. So if we are supposed to get a feel for gay lifestyles, why not make one more realistic? And the senator is just as cliché as a conservative senator (though I think he might be closer to reality than Nathan Lane is).
But worst of all about this film is the way the families interact. It is unbelievable and becomes more and more so as the film goes on. I know this is a comedy, but there were many key life lessons and dramatic scenes that were just completely defecated upon because the film put comedy and weak writing in places we absolutely did not need it.
This film fails, but as least it has Gene Hackman... the only reason I didn't give it less than a 5.
What we have is a gay couple (Nathan Lane and Robin Williams) who have a grown son, and he is engaged to the daughter (Calista Flockhart) of a powerful conservative senator (Gene Hackman). When the senator gets invited to dinner, things get a little silly.
First, the nicest thing I can say is that the film is like a backwards version of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" because the socially acceptable people are entering the home of the social outcasts. But a backwards film exists already called "Guess Who", and I don't want to touch that. But anyway, in this context I guess the idea was alright.
Hank Azaria is also decent as the very flamboyant male maid (dressed more like a cabana boy). Any other actor doing this and I think the part would have been going over the top (as much of this film does), but Azaria is the kind of guy who makes over the top seem normal. And Calista Flockhart looks about as attractive as she ever could in this movie, which is the nicest thing I can say about her poor acting and usually poor screen presence.
The over-the-topness ruins some of what this film was trying to do, because it makes gays out to be extremely unlike other people, which I don't generally think is true. So if we are supposed to get a feel for gay lifestyles, why not make one more realistic? And the senator is just as cliché as a conservative senator (though I think he might be closer to reality than Nathan Lane is).
But worst of all about this film is the way the families interact. It is unbelievable and becomes more and more so as the film goes on. I know this is a comedy, but there were many key life lessons and dramatic scenes that were just completely defecated upon because the film put comedy and weak writing in places we absolutely did not need it.
This film fails, but as least it has Gene Hackman... the only reason I didn't give it less than a 5.