The Birdcage
Part of our Pride 2024 series!
The Birdcage, a remake of the French classic La Cage aux Folles, follows the comically deceit-filled meeting between two sets of future in-laws. When Val–the son of openly gay drag club owner Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) and his lover/star performer Albert (Nathan Lane)–comes home bearing news of engagement, Armand is hesitantly supportive. Matters take a turn for the worse when the parents of Barbara–Val’s fiancée–are revealed to be the very conservative Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman) and his wife Louise (Dianne Wiest).
As Kevin becomes involved in a shocking political scandal, he is convinced by Barbara and Louise that meeting Val’s parents would be a good way to avoid negative press. Armand and Albert, determined to make things work for their son and future daughter-in-law, reluctantly agree to pose as straight. Hilarious shenanigans promptly unfold as Armand and Albert, helped by flamboyant housekeeper Agador and Val’s birthmother Katharine, attempt to deceive Kevin and Louise.
As The Washington Post puts it, The Birdcage is “one of the loopiest, most hysterical family-values movies ever made.” With stellar performances from an incredibly talented cast, this laugh-out-loud classic “squeezes maximum comic mileage out of running gags about obscenely patterned dinnerware, an oversize crucifix, and a Guatemalan butler (the wonderful Hank Azaria) so limpidly feminine he can barely walk in hard shoes. The beauty of The Birdcage is that its jokes and its message are one and the same. These characters couldn’t change themselves if they tried. And only a fool would want them to.”–Entertainment Weekly.
This film is eligible for the Youth Arts Access Fund. Call the Box Office at 207.873.7000 to obtain YAAF tickets. Pay it forward! Donate to YAAF here.
WATCH TRAILER >
The Birdcage, a remake of the French classic La Cage aux Folles, follows the comically deceit-filled meeting between two sets of future in-laws. When Val–the son of openly gay drag club owner Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) and his lover/star performer Albert (Nathan Lane)–comes home bearing news of engagement, Armand is hesitantly supportive. Matters take a turn for the worse when the parents of Barbara–Val’s fiancée–are revealed to be the very conservative Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman) and his wife Louise (Dianne Wiest).
As Kevin becomes involved in a shocking political scandal, he is convinced by Barbara and Louise that meeting Val’s parents would be a good way to avoid negative press. Armand and Albert, determined to make things work for their son and future daughter-in-law, reluctantly agree to pose as straight. Hilarious shenanigans promptly unfold as Armand and Albert, helped by flamboyant housekeeper Agador and Val’s birthmother Katharine, attempt to deceive Kevin and Louise.
As The Washington Post puts it, The Birdcage is “one of the loopiest, most hysterical family-values movies ever made.” With stellar performances from an incredibly talented cast, this laugh-out-loud classic “squeezes maximum comic mileage out of running gags about obscenely patterned dinnerware, an oversize crucifix, and a Guatemalan butler (the wonderful Hank Azaria) so limpidly feminine he can barely walk in hard shoes. The beauty of The Birdcage is that its jokes and its message are one and the same. These characters couldn’t change themselves if they tried. And only a fool would want them to.”–Entertainment Weekly.
This film is eligible for the Youth Arts Access Fund. Call the Box Office at 207.873.7000 to obtain YAAF tickets. Pay it forward! Donate to YAAF here.
WATCH TRAILER >