Having never seen the original French farce, "La Cage Aux Folles," I have no idea whether this American remake has any semblance to it or not. Starring Robin Williams, the film centers around a young man's wedding announcement. The rub is that Williams is gay and owns a nightclub where his "partner," Nathan Lane ("Jeffery"), is the main drag attraction. The future in-laws are, conversely, supposed dyed-in-the-wool moralists. Gene Hackman plays a senator up for re-election and in the midst of a scandal and Dianne Wiest is his bulky, Washington wife. Also along for the ride is Hank Azaria (TV's "Herman's Head") as a Guatemalan houseboy (who dresses like a cheap Carmen Miranda) as well as Dan Futterman and Calista Flockhart as the young lovers.

The film tries to have the "gay" heart of "To Wong Foo" (where Williams did a cameo as a gay) and yet it's much more slick than that film. Producer/Director Mike Nichols ("The Graduate," "Regarding Henry") seems to enjoy making the film look as bright and as colorful as possible. But he films more bare butts in neon day-glo g-strings than he does the drag queens that work in the club. Nichols, at least, gets us right into the picture with an aerial shot that dives right into the front doors of the titular drag club, "The Birdcage." After a rousing, highly polished drag version of "We Are Family," which acts as a motif in the film, Nichols takes us backstage where a drag artist does a quick change, adjusting her package, right before our very eyes. The film continues to move quite briskly throughout and Nichols begins to concentrates on the plot moreso than ambiance here. It's just too bad that he can't show us the real world Williams and Lane inhabit. There is no substance here. Everything is too showy and too slick. Nichols seems afraid to slow down and show us what lay under the layers here. Middle America just won't understand, the film seems to say. We'll lose them if we show them the true love and heart here.

As I've said, most of the characters lack depth. At times they fall much to close to stereotype than character. Williams looks right but, unfortunately, that means we can't stand looking at him for long. He looks like one of those old queens in the corner gay bar that only gets attention because they have money. Worse yet is Lane who flits and yelps his way through the film like a junkie in search of a Prozac. He is so irritating at times that we can't understand what Williams is doing with him. Scripter Elaine May gives the duo a knockout scene in the films later stages, however, that gives the two characters more heart but it's just about too little, too late. In the long run, Williams and Lane are as loud and as obnoxious as their costumes. On the other hand, Hackman and Wiest are about as bland as their conservative outfits. Hackman has tons of sub-text to work with here and yet, much like the film, he glosses over it. Wiest is forced to remain silent through much of the film so her turnabout at the climax is quite unbelievable. At least these straight characters are drawn as broadly as the gay ones. There could be high dram and comedy if the film wanted to go that deep, but instead we just get the laughs. As for the kids, the boy is much to unfeeling to ever have been brought up by two gay men. The film doesn't show us any real familial connection between them. And the girl is as quiet as her mom. She is almost an accessory here.

"The Birdcage" gets most of it's jokes from trotting out those gay stereotypes we've been laughing at for years. Lane's loud and jumpy queen is so obnoxious and so flitty one cannot help but laugh at him. Williams is too reserved in opposition. Why Williams is cast in this role is anyone's guess. He is so smarmy here that he almost turns our stomachs. Watching him down a glass of white wine while his false teeth almost pop out is way too unsettling. Likewise, Azaria's gay immigrant is funny but also a stereotype. We laugh at how he is dressed, how he talks and how he acts more than at what he says or does.

"The Birdcage" is not politically correct but it's not all that offensive either. The ending is a kick even if the loose ends are hardly tied up. We don't get the specifics on how everything comes together but eventually it does. This throwback to the homo cinema or yore doesn't help gays move into the future any; It doesn't open any new doors. But like "Wong Foo" it was seen by a large, diverse audience who, hopefully, took a little bit more understanding home with them. If we have to laugh at swishy queens to learn to accept them, I guess there's a bit of validity to this film.

Note: Nichols and May used to be a comic stand-up team in the 50's!

Costumes by Ann Roth. Music arranged and adapted by Jonathan Tunick. Director of Photography is Emmanuel Lubezki.

Review written in 1996

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