The Birdcage (1996)

Directed by Mike Nichols. Starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski, Calista Flockhart, Tom McGowan, Grant Heslov. [R]

American remake of the French hit La Cage aux Folles (after it already inspired two sequels and a Broadway show); it translates well, even if the premise has worn thin, but the script by director Nichols’ old improv partner Elaine May adds a lot of sly wisecracks to keep things feeling fresh and buoyant most of the way. Compunctious Futterman announces to his father (Williams), a gay drag club owner, that he’s getting married to the daughter of an ultra-conservative politician (Hackman)—so conservative, in fact, that he thinks that Billy Graham is “too liberal”—and, as the saying goes, guess who’s coming to dinner. Williams shows surprising restraint while Lane, as his life partner and star of the club’s drag show, goes over the top (the “shrieking queen” stereotype is a crass one, but he has fun with it and gets a few delightful moments); most of the funniest moments actually belong to the squares, with Hackman and wife Wiest “accidentally” spouting deadpan zingers left and right. Chief fault lies with the rhythm and pace (critical for a great farce) with too much time spent on subplots involving Futterman’s birth mother (Baranski) and a couple of tabloid journalists from National Enquirer, who ultimately become inconsequential. It’s a bit odd that Williams and Lane don’t seem to try to exhibit any kind of heat in their chemistry—they do live in South Beach, after all—but the filmmakers were clearly more interested in crafting a “safe” picture that can play in the heartland.

64/100