The seasons are changing and so are streaming libraries across the board. Each month, new movies are added to Netflix, HBO Max and Hulu, and it can be hard to keep up with what’s new and good to watch.
On June 1, Amazon Prime Video added a movie to its impressive catalogue that’s not new but is still worth streaming — The Birdcage. The 1996 film was a modest hit when it was first released, but some people think it’s too dated to be enjoyed today.
If you ask me or any of the Watch With Us crew, the film is still laugh-out-loud funny, and it’s one of the rare movies that always brings a smile to my face. Here are a few reasons why you should check it out in June.
The Set-Up Is KillerThe Birdcage is a remake of the 1978 comedy La Cage aux Folles, which is an adaptation of a 1972 French play. The basic plot remains the same across all three versions — a young man engaged to a woman from a conservative family must hide the fact that he was raised by two men. In The Birdcage, the two men are Armand Goldman (Robin Williams), the owner of a successful Miami drag club, and Albert (Nathan Lane), who stars in the drag show that brings in the crowds.
They love their son Val (Dan Futterman) a lot, enough to begrudgingly go along with his requests that they hide that they are gay and in a committed relationship, that they don’t own the drag club and that their last name isn’t Goldman, but Coleman, to hide their Jewish heritage.
Why? Val is engaged to Barbara (Calista Flockhart), whose father is conservative senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman). He’s involved in a sex scandal, so he needs some good press. He bets on Barbara’s upcoming nuptials to be just the thing to clean up his image, so he pressures Barbara to arrange a sit-down dinner with the two families in Miami.
And so begins The Birdcage, a modern screwball comedy that is also a surprisingly touching portrait of marriage of all kinds and a fascinating snapshot of mid-’90s culture, which was still knee-deep in celebrity scandals like the O.J. Simpson trial and the Republican Revolution led by Newt Gingrich. (Don’t worry — The Birdcage isn’t really political unless it’s cracking jokes at the expense of both Republicans and Democrats.)
The Cast Is SuperbDirector Mike Nichols has a way with actors — across the stage, film and television, he’s helped famous celebrities like Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford and more give some of their best performances. That explains why The Birdcage, a modest comedy with only a desire to entertain, is filled with so many talented creatives: Williams, Hackman, Flockhart, two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest as Barbara’s meek mother, Hank Azaria as the Goldman’s saucy housekeeper Agador Spartacus (what a name!) and Christine Baranski as Val’s leggy birth mother.
What’s even more impressive is that everyone gets their moment to shine. Whenever Azaria appears, he’s like a comedic firecracker — he’s bright and loud, and he never fails to get at least three laughs in every scene he’s in. Wiest is mostly known for her dramatic work in films like Hannah and Her Sisters and Little Man Tate, but she shows a flair for comedy here with her neglected wife, who just wants someone to love her as much as everyone loves Nathan Lane’s character.
And then there’s Lane, who got his breakout role playing Albert/Starina/Mrs. Goldman. That’s right, he plays three roles in The Birdcage, and he’s absolutely sensational in all of them. When he appears in full Southern lady drag to convince Senator Keeley his family is “traditional” and thus acceptable to him, the movie reaches comedic nirvana.
Lane’s straight lady drag act, which involves singing “I Could’ve Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady and flirting with Keeley, is absurd in all the right ways, and Lane makes it work by fully investing in his character. You never laugh at Albert — instead, you laugh along with him as he does his best to maintain the elaborate charade to make his son happy. In a way, it’s Albert’s great acting challenge, and he rises to the occasion with a performance that is worthy of the divas he idolizes and mimics in his drag act.
It Has a Hilarious Dinner Scene That Made Me LMAOThe best part of The Birdcage, and trust me, it was hard to pick just one, is the climactic dinner scene, when the two families finally meet. 1996 was an era before cringe comedy was popular, but this scene in The Birdcage is probably the cringiest thing you’ll see outside of a Nathan Fielder show.
What makes it so uncomfortable — and so funny — is the very sincere but misguided efforts of Armand, Albert, Val and Agador to convincingly portray a “straight” family who has only Nancy Drew books in the library and has nothing but a giant wooden cross hanging on the wall. It’s all so wrong and off, but Senator Keeley is so desperate to believe it, it works — at least for a while.
But once dinner is served, the truth slowly comes out. The soup bowls have illustrations of men fornicating outside, which is explained away by Armand insisting they are actually playing leapfrog with one another. Meanwhile, Mrs. Goldman gets drunk, rants about gays in the military and her blonde wig almost comes off. Agador serves food that isn’t completely cooked, and Val is barely keeping it together. And that’s when Val’s biological mother shows up at the door …
What happens next? Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself. The Birdcage is nearly 30 years old, but it remains one of the funniest and moving comedies I’ve ever seen. It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, so if you’re a subscriber, set aside two hours of your time and spend some time with Armand, Starina and the rest of this very unusual family.
The Birdcage is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
