THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603120426
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
HOLLYWOOD HAS waited a surprisingly long time to make a version of the lovable comedy ``La Cage aux Folles,'' the knockabout French farce in which stuffy moralists are revealed as hypocrites and men in high heels display family values.
The resulting remake, ``The Birdcage,'' is professional, slick, commercial fluff. It's sure to be a hit, but, at the same time, may well be less manic and farcical than one would have expected.
The present version, directed by Mike Nichols and written by his old comedy partner, Elaine May, follows the original almost identically in plot.
The story centers on The Birdcage, a Miami nightclub that features Starrina, a feathered and sequined drag queen. She is portrayed nightly by Albert, a fussy and paranoid, but ultra-sweet and caring man who has to be coaxed on stage every night. His longtime companion is club owner Armand, a more masculine but equally caring type. Together the two men have raised Val, Armand's son.
Val announces that he is marrying, and there is pandemonium when the bride's ``upper-crust'' parents plan a visit. The father-in-law-to-be is an ultra-conservative Republican senator.
Believing that the senator and his wife simply won't understand the all-male living arrangements and flamboyant decor of their home, Armand and Albert hurriedly remodel to make it look like a monastery - complete with a cross hanging above the dining table.
Val's biological mother agrees to return for a one-night masquerade so that the visiting moralists can see that their prospective son-in-law came from a ``proper'' home. When she doesn't show up, Albert takes to his high heels in a hilarious impersonation of Barbara Bush - pearls and all.
All this is meant to be a hoot. Following in the heel prints of such recent hits as ``To Wong Foo . . . ,'' ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' and ``Mrs. Doubtfire,'' one suspects that it can hardly fail at the box office - particularly since Robin Williams is one of the stars.
Williams' fans, though, will be surprised to learn that he is playing the restrained member of the duo. Seldom has this manic performer been so quiet and introverted. That leaves Nathan Lane (the Broadway star of ``Guys and Dolls'' and the voice of Timon in Disney's ``The Lion King'') to take on the more flamboyant role of Albert.
Gene Hackman is a stone-faced straight man, literally, as Sen. Keeley. His wife is the delightfully proper Dianne Wiest.
Agador, the fey and exaggerated butler, is played by Hank Azaria. Azaria, in a red wig, declares that he is ``part Lucy and part Ricky.''
Dan Futterman, as the son, has the least sympathetic role. His whining and insistence that his ``parents'' straighten up for the visitors seem unreasonable. Christine Baranski (of TV's ``Cybill'') plays his biological mother.
Lane, who will probably become a star as a result of this film, is surprisingly low-key. Given his cross-dressing role, one expected extremes.
The real surprise, though, is how restrained the film, in general, turns out to be. Aiming directly at a mainstream audience, Nichols keeps Armand and Albert quiet most of the time.
More daring, and more ill-advised, is his determination to turn this into a social commentary. Nichols couldn't resist trying to equate the farce of ``La Cage'' with the ``family values'' campaign. Indeed, the film does make a convincing case that this is a family with loving, caring and moral values.
At the same time, the needless barbs at Sen. Robert Dole and Rush Limbaugh shift the focus from the broad comedy. It's the same type of politicizing that marred the otherwise charming ``The American President.''
Ultimately, the comedy surfaces and, even with Robin tamed down in a way we thought impossible, the film is likely to evolve as a hit. But this is one case in which over-the-top wouldn't have been too much. Someone should have told director Nichols that it's all right for a farce to be farcical. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``The Birdcage''
Cast: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest,
Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart
Director: Mike Nichols
Screenplay: Elaine May
Music: Jonathan Tunick
MPAA rating: R (naughty language, farcical sexual situations)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Locations: Lynnhaven 8, Surf-N-Sand, KempsRiver Crossing in
Virginia Beach; Cinemark, Regal in Chesapeake; Janaf, Columbus, Main
Gate in Norfolk
by CNB