Review of The Birdcage (1996) by David A — 18 Apr 2010

(from The Watermark 03/30/96).

It's hard to believe - a funny and positive gay-themed mainstream film. (Are we still in Kansas?) Williams and Lane are a gay couple who own a nightclub in South Beach. Williams had a one-night hetero fling twenty years ago that produced a son (Dan Futterman) whom he and Lane have raised as their own. Futterman announces he's getting married to the daughter of an ultra-conservative Ohio Senator (Hackman). Hackman and his wife (Wiest) decide to come down and meet the "family," so Futterman asks Williams to play straight, and Lane to play invisible. When the real mother (Christine Baranski) can't make the engagement, Lane shows up as Mom - in drag. The hilarity that ensues is fantastic.

I know the film has been out for three weeks, and most people have already seen it. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to nit-pick a little, and give my own personal Birdcage Wish List that would have made a great film into a perfect film:

1. A better drag name for Lane. Starina? How uncreative and ungay.

2. The "pinky" joke is used one too many times when Williams is trying to teach Lane how to act butch.

3. The son's fiancée is too docile and submissive.

4. The pivotal moment when Futterman admits that Lane is not his mother should have involved more of a struggle within Futterman, or at least a look between Futterman and Williams before they let the cat out of the bag.

5. Baranski is wasted in a thankless role. I hate to pigeon-hole her vast talents, but why not make her bitchy and dislikeable? Reinforce that Futterman was better off being raised by Lane.

6. The houseboy (the hilarious Hank Azaria) should have gotten the chance to be the star in the final drag show.

7. The epilogue doesn't tell enough: we know they get marrried, but what happens to Hackman's career? Are the media covering the wedding? I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop!

As far as the controversy over how gay people perceive this film, my spin is this: it's the top grossing film in the country right now. Straight people are going to see it, and what they're finding is a movie filled with funny campy gay people who still have a sense of self-worth, dignity and (I hate this damn term) family values. How can the gay community cry out against such a film? I think the material is more universal than anybody might have suspected. Think of it as fine French wine that gets better with age.