The Birdcage

Release Year: 1996

Director: Mike Nichols

Review: With Robin Williams in a movie about a functionally dysfunctional gay family who owns a cross-dressing night club, there is bound to be entertainment to be had.  The performances by Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria steal the show however.  Just watching them perform, unbridled and hamming it up, was worth the watch alone.  Ultimately I feel the story was lacking.  They wanted to shove a very unconventional movie into a painfully conventional story arch and unfortunately things just didn't seem to fit.  It could have been a much better film had they explored the real issues of the film without trying to paint over it with standard comedy paint.  And was I the only one not buying Calista Flockhart as a twenty year old college conservative?  She completely blocked comedic rhythm every time she was given screen time.  Despite these pitfalls the performances saved it, and it was still a fun movie.
Rating: 3.5/5