Film Snail

7.0

The Birdcage

R·1996·119m

Comedy

Summary

Middle-aged gay life partners, Armand Goldman, a Jewish drag club owner, and Albert, the club's flamboyant star attraction, live in the eclectic community of South Beach and have raised a straight son. Now, their newly engaged son, 20-year-old Val, wants to bring his fiancée, Barbara, and her ultraconservative parents home to meet his family for the first time. By Val's request, Armand pretends to be straight, not Jewish and attempts to hide his relationship with Albert, in order to please Barbara's father, controversial right-wing Republican Sen. Kevin Keeley.

Cast

Robin Williams

Armand Goldman

Gene Hackman

Senator Kevin Keeley

Nathan Lane

Albert

Dan Futterman

Val Goldman

Dianne Wiest

Louise Keeley

Calista Flockhart

Barbara Keeley

Hank Azaria

Agador

Christine Baranski

Katharine Archer

Tom McGowan

Harry Radman

Grant Heslov

Photographer - National Enquirer

Kirby Mitchell

Chauffeur

James Lally

Stage Manager

Luca Tommassini

Celsius

Luis Camacho

Goldman Girl

Andre Fuentes

Goldman Girl

Tony Gonzalez

Goldman Girl

Dante Henderson

Goldman Girl

Scott Kaske

Goldman Girl

Kevin Stea

Goldman Girl

Tim Kelleher

Waiter in Club

Ann Cusack

TV Woman in Van

Stanley DeSantis

TV Man in Van

J. Roy Helland

Club Hostess

Anthony Giaimo

Fishmonger (Mr. Lopez)

Lee Delano

Bakery Man (Mr. Boynton)

David Sage

Senator Eli Jackson

Michael Kinsley

TV Host

Tony Snow

TV Host

Dorothy Constantine

Keeley's Maid (Bridget)

Trina McGee

Black Girl on TV (Chocolate)

Barry Nolan

TV Reporter

Amy Powell

TV Reporter

Ron Pitts

TV Reporter

James Hill

TV Reporter

Mary Major

TV Reporter

Steven Porfido

State Trooper

John Pontrelli

Waiter in Cafe (Rodrigo)

Herschel Sparber

Big Guy in Park

Francesca Cruz

Katharine's Secretary (Imelda)

Brian Reddy

TV Editor

Jim Jansen

TV Editor

Al Rodrigo

Latino Man in Club

Marjorie Lovett

Matron

Sylvia Short

Matron

James H. Morrison

Pastor

Rabbi Robert K. Baruch

Rabbi

Jay Leno

Jay Leno (uncredited)

Kenneth Stephens

Chuck (uncredited)

Rayder Woods

Drag Queen (uncredited)

Kevin Loreque

Drag Queen (uncredited)

Jody Millard

Drag Queen Dancer (uncredited)

Scott Burkholder

Executive Producer (Uncredited)

Patrizia Barretto

Bikini Girl on Roller Blades (Uncredited)

Elisa Bridges

Bikini Girl on Beach (Uncredited)

David Christopher

Hot Guy (Uncredited)

Nina Dolci

Shopping Person (Uncredited)

Justin Goudreau

Restaurant Patron (Uncredited)

Jordan Werner

Pool Waiter (uncredited)

Dave Knight

Broad Causeway Commuter (Uncredited)

Claudio Sad

Driver (uncredited)

Rene Teboe

South Beach Tourist (Uncredited)

Bodo Goerisch

Tourist (Uncredited)

Thelma Gutiérrez

Bartender (uncredited)

Louis Campos

Gay Bar Patron (Uncredited)

Lisa Rhyne

Nightclub Dancer (Uncredited)

Jan Citron

Clubgoer (Uncredited)

Orlando Delbert

Man in Club (Uncredited)

Michael Thomas Daniel

Guy in Street (Uncredited)

Don LaFontaine

Radio Newscaster (voice) (uncredited)

James MacDonald

Crewman (Uncredited)

Sal Pacino

Wedding Guest (Uncredited)

Paul McMichael

Wedding Guest (Uncredited)

Jordan Ancel

Wedding Guest (Uncredited)

Crew

Director

Mike Nichols

Original Film Writer

Édouard Molinaro

Original Film Writer

Francis Veber

Original Film Writer

Marcello Danon

Original Film Writer, Theatre Play

Jean Poiret

Screenplay

Elaine May

Reviews

Geronimo1967

January 14, 2024

I remember thinking that Dan Futterman was quite attractive in this film as the young "Val", but boy does his turn out to be one of the most selfish and thoughtless of characters! He turns up at the eponymous nightclub run by his father "Armand" (Robin Williams) and his consort of twenty years "Albert" (Nathan Lane) to announce he is to wed. Thing is, he is going to marry the daughter of the rather puritanical senator "Keeley" (Gene Hackman) and so they are going to have to play happy, heterosexual, families when the prospective in-laws come to visit. "Armand" manages his disappointment rather better than his lover who, inclined to the histrionic at the best of times, takes it as all as a personal slight and a mega-strop ensues. Meantime, the worthy senator gets some shocking news of his own involving a colleague and a hooker! Suddenly he needs to get away, and so to the "Birdcage" he, wife "Louise" (Dianne Wiest) and intended bride "Barbara" (Calista Flockhart) duly head. The press get wind of this, and of the fact that it's a fairly ostentatious gay club - and so are just praying to get some snaps of this visit. Can the family stay on a even keel long enough for the estranged mother "Katherine" (Christine Baranski) to arrive, and can they manage to avoid implicating the holier-than-thou politician in the mother of all scandals? Time hasn't been especially kind to this, but Williams and an excellently hammy Nathan Lane do well keeping the momentum going as we to and fro with tantrums a-plenty. Weist and Hackman work well too, but the starring role has to belong to Hank Azaria's camp "Agador" who takes crop-tops to an whole new level. Jean Pouret's original play was written with it's tongue in it's cheek and this updates, but essentially carries on, the tradition of light farce. Stereoptypes galore? Yep, but they're still fun performances that are worth a watch.