"The Birdcage" Review – Birds of a fabulous feather

In my recent binge of Robin Williams’ movies I have never seen, I came across one of his movies through TikTok from the late 90s titled “The Birdcage.” It seemed to have some great comedic moments, so I decided to watch it. 

Before we even discuss the movie, the all-star cast needs to be addressed. It stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski. 

All of these actors are great comedians in their own way, but together, they make a hilarious movie filled with one-liners and unforgettable bits. 

The plot of the movie follows Robin Williams’ character Arman Goldman, trying to pretend he is straight for his son’s future in-laws. Arman owns a drag bar in South Beach, Miami, Florida, with the main attraction being Arman’s partner, Albert Goldman, played by Nathan Lane. 

Arman and Albert are visited by their son Val, who is only 20 years old and is getting married soon. His fiancée, Barbara, is the daughter of a conservative senator from Ohio, with her father pushing for a stronger morality in the United States. 

In the movie, Val wants Arman, his biological father, to pretend to be straight when her parents come to visit, and Albert, his bonus dad, to go away for a few days because he does not believe he could pass as a straight man. 

The movie then follows Arman trying to teach Albert how to act like a straight guy while Val tries to make everything at the house look more like a conservative, Christian family lives there.  

Around the halfway mark of the film, the audience is introduced to Val’s mother, Katherine Archer, played by Christine Baranski, who has never even met Val. Following some persuasion, she agrees to pretend to be married to Arman for the night to help fool the senator’s family. 

Speaking of the senator’s family, they are caught in the middle of a controversy as his colleague, who was helping push for better morality, dies while with an underage prostitute. Looking to avoid the press, Barbara convinces her father and mother that this would be the best time to slip away to South Beach. 

The movie is just a series of comedic bits, one after another, with every actor making the most of their screen time. 

One of the famous scenes is when Arman tries to teach Albert to walk like a straight guy. Trying to look like John Wayne when he walks, he walks back and forth like a drunk cowboy before coming back to Arman. Arman says, “It was perfect. I just never knew John Wayne walked like that.” 

There is another scene where an accidental bit of comedy happens. It is during the dinner scene where Hank Azaria’s character Agador is supposed to cook dinner for the families. 

The only issue is Agador does not know how to cook and did not prepare an entree, just soup. Arman and Val storm into the kitchen and start freaking out before Arman goes to storm back out and falls. 

This was not a planned stunt by Williams. If you look closely, you can see the other actors turn away from Williams as they try not to break. 

While this movie is a comedy, it does have a very serious and heartwarming message. 

The ending sees Albert in drag as Val’s mother because his biological mother is stuck in traffic on the way to dinner. When Katherine shows up to dinner, the future in-laws are confused, leaving Albert to reveal himself as a man to Barbara’s family. 

Arman, Albert, Val and Barbara admit they have been lying to the senator and come out into the open about who they really are. They also say they meant what they said and are just the same people they were earlier, just now as two men. 

Val defends his parents, saying that while Kristine might be his biological mother, he does not view her as his mom. Arman is his dad, and Albert is his true mother.  

The senator hates it and wants to leave but is forced to stay due to the media. They had found out the senator’s family was at Arman’s house, which is above the drag bar, and were waiting to get a picture of the senator.  

The movie gives us one final truly fun bit with the family’s escape from the media. The senator, his wife and Barbara get into the drag bar and dance their way out to the escape car.  

The movie comes to its happy ending with the marriage of Val and Barbara, with one side of the aisle filled with conservative congressmen and the other filled with drag queens. 

This movie is a great comedy movie, but it also has very important messages we can still apply in the world today. The key message is your sexuality does not make you a good or bad person, but who you are as a person. 

Another is to not be ashamed of who you are and where you come from. Val originally wanted to hide his family from his fiancée’s parents, but in the end, he embraces who they are and defends them. 

This movie is pure comedic genius from start to finish, but it also wants the audience to learn something by the end of the film. “The Birdcage” is a must-watch comedy movie that everyone should see at least once.