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"Oy, what am I going to wear?" says Nathan Lane, right, to Robin Williams.

'The Birdcage'

Rated R

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THE JEWISH NEWS

of a one-night stand 20 years ago
obin Williams as a between Armand and Katharine
straight man. Robin (Christine Baranski).
Williams as a straight,
But guess who's coming to din-
ay man. An oxymoron? ner? "I'm getting married Dad
Perhaps. But The Birdcage is an it's a girl." Val's engaged to Bar-
extremely funny "P.C."
bara (Calista Flockhart),.
movie — there's a little
and it's time for the
MOVIES
bit for everybody — Jews,
prospective "in-laws" to
non-Jews, heterosexuals
meet. Unfortunately for
and gays alike.
Armand, Albert and Val, Bar-
And did I already mention that bara's father is Senator Keeley
the film is hilarious? Based on the (Gene Hackman), the staunch
French-Italian comedy La Cage right-wing leader of the Coalition
Aux Folles (1978) and the 1984 for Moral Order who's in the
Tony-Award winning musical of midst of a scandal.
the same name, The Birdcage is
It seems Keeley's co-founder of
set in South Beach, Fla., where the Coalition was involved with
everyone bares all and
cross-dressing is the
norm.
Williams plays Ar-
mand Goldman, owner of
"The Birdcage," a drag-
queen nightclub. Broad-
way veteran Nathan
Lane (Guys and Dolls;
Love! Valor! and Com-
passion; and, opening
March 18 on Broadway,
A Funny Thing Hap-
pened on the Way to the
Forum) is Goldman's
longtime lover, Albert,
and Starina, headliner of
"The Birdcage." Togeth-
er, Armand and Albert
have played father and
mother, respectively, to
Armand's son Val (Dan
Futterman), the progeny

Rg

"She Works Hard for the
Money," according to Albert
(Nathan Lane), who plays
Starina, the consummate drag
queen of The Birdcage.

a black prostitute minor — and
died in the act. Louise Keeley (Di-
anne Wiest) is convinced that the
impending "white wedding" will
bring back family values, hope
and morality and erase all images
of the scandal. So Keeley's en
route to South Beach with his
daughter and wife to meet their
future son-in-law's nice Jewish
gay "mother' and father and their
flamboyant houseboy Agador
(Hank Azaria).
What ensues is a comic mas-
querade not to be missed — an
epic Pygmalion in drag.
The Birdcage is a strong en-
semble film, with superb acting
by all, and classic com-
ic performances by
Williams, Lane, Wiest,
Hackman and Azaria.
Although Dan Futter-
man is respectable in
his role as the son, his
character is callous and
unsympathetic to Ar-
mand's and Albert's
feelings — as a couple,
as individuals, as gay
people thrust into what
is for them an unnatur-
al world.
While many themes
are not explored in
depth in the film, direc-
tor Mike Nichols and
screenwriter Elaine
May have instead taken
a light-hearted/shtick-
intensive approach.
It works. Mrs. Doubt-
fire for adults.

112

—Julie Smith Yolles