Birdcage

UPC: 027616603395

Studio: MGM

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Humor]

Summary: Director Mike Nichols teams up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce La Cage aux Folles that stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and Diane Wiest as two dramatically disparate couples who manage to reconcile their vast differences for the sake of their children who are getting married. Williams plays Armand Goldman, the owner of a popular South Beach drag club known for putting on elaborate showcases starring his long-time lover/wife Albert (Lane) who appears as "Starina." Lately poor flamboyant, flighty Albert has been in crisis over the inexorable onset of middle age. He has been moody, paranoid and unbearably. When he gets too inconsolably distraught, handsome but clumsy houseboy Agador quietly slips Albert "Pirin" tablets (which he explains to Armand are simply Aspirin tablets with the "as" scraped off). Still though Albert can be a royal pain, Armand dearly loves him and the two live happily in their splendiferous apartment above the club. One day Armand's son Val (the result of Armand's single foray into straight sex) comes visiting with joyous news: he has found his dreamgirl and is getting married. The only trouble is, Barbara Keeley's father is the blustery ultra-religious right-wing Senator Keeley (Hackman), the founder of the Coalition for Moral Order. Senator Keeley and his colleagues are not as upright as they seem and when his closest associate is found dead beside a black, underage prostitute, Keeley finds his house surrounded by ravenous newshounds, hungry for dirt. Knowing that they are poised to ruin him, Keeley and his proper but slightly addled-wife (Wiest) decide that a big, elaborate, church wedding will be just the ticket to save his reputation. Barbara has neglected to tell them that Val's parents are gay, preferring to claim that they are members of the South Beach social elite. In a panic, she panics and calls Val who breaks the bad news to Armand and begs him to make the apartment less flamboyant and worst of all to hide Albert (who functioned as Val's mother while the youth grew up) during the visit. Armand is angry, but loving his son, finally, reluctantly agrees, knowing that he will deeply wound his companion. Unfortunately, Albert finds out and as a compromise tries to learn how to be macho so he can pretend to be Val's uncle, he is too much the Great Dame to ever pass as one of the guys and so is banned from the party. Armand then locates Catherine and asks her to masquerade as his wife. She agrees to show up later that evening. Meanwhile their friends busily redecorate the apartment until it looks as if it were done in "Early Inquisition." During the fateful dinner party, Catherine is late and Albert gets uproarious revenge. Achingly comic chaos ensues as Armand tries to hold the increasingly tenuous evening together while outside the newshounds bay and threaten to make even more trouble for Senator Keely. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Awards: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction-Set Decoration – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Acting – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild

Features: ccEight-page booklet with trivia, production notes, and the making of the film
Original theatrical trailer

Birdcage

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/26/1997

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen, 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 119 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Chapter List
0. Chapter List
1. Main Title-WE ARE FAMILY [4:58]
2. Victoria Page Is Dead [5:45]
3. The Incomparable Starina [3:06]
4. The Other Man [3:34]
5. Barbara's Encouragement [3:24]
6. The Next Morning [3:53]
7. The Senator's Scandal [5:44]
8. Albert's Rehearsal [3:35]
9. The Favor [3:57]
10. Meet The Press [3:18]
11. Armand's Decision [2:37]
12. Getting Respectable [3:41]
13. Straightening Albert Out [7:07]
14. Ask Your Mother [6:43]
15. Caught In The Act [4:07]
16. Partners For Life [3:32]
17. Just A Guy [5:38]
18. The Moment Of Truth [9:28]
19. Mrs. Coleman [7:01]
20. Dinner Is Served [11:18]
21. Too Many Mothers [4:50]
22. No Way Out [3:08]
23. Queen For A Day [3:04]
24. End Credits. [5:09]
Chapter List
0. Chapter List
1. Main Title-WE ARE FAMILY [4:58]
2. Victoria Page Is Dead [5:45]
3. The Incomparable Starina [3:06]
4. The Other Man [3:34]
5. Barbara's Encouragement [3:24]
6. The Next Morning [3:53]
7. The Senator's Scandal [5:44]
8. Albert's Rehearsal [3:35]
9. The Favor [3:57]
10. Meet The Press [3:18]
11. Armand's Decision [2:37]
12. Getting Respectable [3:41]
13. Straightening Albert Out [7:07]
14. Ask Your Mother [6:43]
15. Caught In The Act [4:07]
16. Partners For Life [3:32]
17. Just A Guy [5:38]
18. The Moment Of Truth [9:28]
19. Mrs. Coleman [7:01]
20. Dinner Is Served [11:18]
21. Too Many Mothers [4:50]
22. No Way Out [3:08]
23. Queen For A Day [3:04]
24. End Credits. [5:09]

Derek Armstrong

Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is a funny, slapstick, but ultimately slight farce, notable as a forerunner in the movement to make gay characters mainstream and profitable at the box office. It succeeded bigtime, winning a broad audience and raking in close to $125 million. It's rare that another actor gets to upstage Robin Williams, but Nathan Lane does so wonderfully, playing an ungracefully aging drag queen who performs at the Miami nightclub owned by Williams, his subdued life partner. It's the role that catapulted Lane into the American popular consciousness, if also typecasting him in the process. His swishy hysterics never get tiresome, but it's even funnier watching him try to learn machismo from Williams, who can "pass" for heterosexual. Williams' treacly scenes connecting with his son are the weakest parts of the movie, which hits a more comfortable stride during its brilliantly staged, elaborate cover-ups aimed at hoodwinking Gene Hackman's right-wing politician. Almost as funny as Lane, in a supporting role, is the scantily clad Hank Azaria, as the couple's flamboyant housekeeper who loves dancing to Gloria Estefan. The Birdcage is also notable for a pre-Ally McBeal appearance by Calista Flockhart, who plays the son's fianc?e. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Luis Camacho  Actor 
Jim Jansen  Actor 
Kevin Stea  Actor 
James Hill  Actor 
Ronald Pitts  Actor 
Brian Reddy  Actor 
Herschel Sparber  Actor 
Mary Major  Actor 
Mike Kinsley  Actor 
Stanley de Santis  Actor 
Tim Kelleher  Actor 
J. Roy Helland  Actor 
David Sage  Actor 
Dorothy Constantine  Actor 
Tony Snow  Actor 
Barry Nolan  Actor 
Andres Fuentes  Actor 
Anthony Richard Gonzalez  Actor 
Madeleine Lee Gilford  Actor 
Grant Heslov  Actor 
Sylvia Short  Actor 
Marjorie Lovett  Actor 
John Pontrelli  Actor 
James H. Morrison  Actor 
Ann Cusack  Actor 
Scott Kaske  Actor 
Trina McGee-Davis  Actor 
Rabbi Robert K. Baruch  Actor 
Steven Porfido  Actor 
Lee Delano  Actor 
James Lally  Actor 
Tom McGowan  Actor 
Al Rodrigo  Actor 
Francesca Cruz  Actor 
Luca Tommassini  Actor 
Anthony Giaimo  Actor 
Kirby Mitchell  Actor 
Amy Powell  Actor 
Dante Lamar Henderson  Actor 
Marcello Danon  Executive Producer 
Neil Machlis  Executive Producer 
Elaine May  Screenwriter 
Mark Mothersbaugh  Composer (Music Score) 
Mike Nichols  Director 
Mike Nichols  Producer 
Jonathan Tunick  Composer (Music Score) 
Robin Williams  Actor 
Gene Hackman  Actor 
Nathan Lane  Actor 
Dianne Wiest  Actor 
Hank Azaria  Actor 
Dan Futterman  Actor 
Calista Flockhart  Actor 
Christine Baranski  Actor 

Country: USA