ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603130014
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
Had there been a talent meter on the set of "The Birdcage," the Mike Nichols' remake of the classic "La Cage Aux Folles," someone would have had to unplug it to keep the noise down.
Because this would still have been a pretty good movie even if Elaine May hadn't written a terrific, down-to-earth script for it.
With Broadway star Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the roles of Albert and Armand; Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest as the conservative parents of a young woman betrothed to Armand's son;. and Hank Azaria as Albert and Armand's shoe-shunning butler, Agador, "The Birdcage" is way better than just pretty good.
There aren't many plot differences between this film and the 1978 French production, which is based on a play by Jean Poiret. And in some ways, May's screenplay gives the movie much greater relevance. First, of course, it's set in South Miami Beach - a perfect backdrop for a story about clashing "moralities." And it directly references a right-wing organization, led by an ultra-conservative senator. Even Sen. Bob Dole rates a couple of mentions; he's too liberal, according to Hackman's Senator Keeley.
It is Keeley's daughter, Barbara, who is announcing her engagement to Armand's son, Val. Barbara (newcomer Calista Flockhart, a dead ringer for young Audrey Hepburn) knows all about Val's unusual "parents." But she invents a story wherein Armand is NOT the owner of a nightclub that features drag shows; he's a cultural "attache." And Val's "mother" ISN'T one of the nightly stars of that show - Albert aka "Starina" - she's a housewife.
Senator Keeley is trying to figure out how to salvage his image; his closest political ally - the ultra-conservative senator - has just died scandalously in the arms of a prostitute. A big, white wedding seems just the thing.
Val talks his father (Williams) into getting rid of all the phallic art for just one night and even shipping too-gay Albert off for a couple of days. Val's real mother (Christine Baranski; I could watch her order out of a catalog), whom he hasn't seen in 20 years, agrees to make a one-night appearance in the role of mother.
But things go awry, as they must in a comedy of errors, in a way that exposes not just Albert and Armand for what they really are.
Thankfully, Nichols keeps things light. This movie would have sunk under the weight of its own plumage had May and Nichols allowed one preachy moment. And Williams restrains himself, sometimes even a little too much; he looks like he's going to eat his own mustache watching Lane get to have all the fun. Williams and Lane rarely falter in conveying the nuances of a long-term relationship. Forget that they're two men; Armand and Albert have been together a long time, and it shows even in the way they hold hands.
So, OK, I'm gushing. But there's one significant negative, and that is in the casting of some guy named Dan Futterman in the role of Val. It's not a great role, but Futterman is not a great actor, either, and he somehow magnifies all of the weaknesses in the character, making you wonder why everyone's going to all this trouble for him anyhow.
It is one flaw in an otherwise wonderful, hilarious movie. Those ads that call it side-splitting aren't lying. But it also gets in a few well-timed little punches about what passes for the truth in politics.
The Birdcage
*** 1/2
A United Artists picture showing at Salem Valley 8 and Tanglewood Mall. Rated R for farcical, sexual situations, near nudity and very naughty language.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane) have toby CNBmake a few changes to prepare for a visit from future in-laws in
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