12 Movies Challenge: 'The Birdcage'

by Julian Spivey
In December I saw something called the “12 Movies Challenge” on Facebook. The premise was that you would have 12 months to watch 12 movies recommended by 12 friends. I don’t often participate in such social media challenges but being a movie buff I felt this might be an interesting way to get out of my comfort zone a bit when it comes to watching movies.

My Facebook buds gave me some films that I’ve been meaning to watch and I pretty much front-loaded those on the list – though not explicitly stated in the challenge rules I am opting to watch one film a month.

A Best Picture winner like “Out of Africa” is an obvious choice for me to get to at some point – that point is now going to be March of this year. But there are certain movies I’m not really looking forward to all that much – I’m looking at you “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken,” my August selection. Then there’s the acclaimed stuff that isn’t really up my alley like the anime feature “Spirited Away,” which I’ve scheduled for November. That will truly be me getting out of my comfort zone.
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Here are the 12 movies recommended to me and the months I’ve assigned myself to watch them:
 
January: “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” (1983)
February: “Till” (2022)
March: “Out of Africa” (1985)
April: “Legally Blonde” (2001)
May: “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)
June: “The Birdcage” (1996)
July: “Morning Glory” (2010)
August: “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)
September: “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)
October: “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)
November: “Spirited Away” (2001)
December: “The Last Laugh” (1924) 

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Photo: United Artists

 
Back on track! After finally watching a recommendation that I didn’t care much for in May – director David Frankel’s “The Devil Wears Prada,” starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway – it was nice to get back to a movie that I enjoyed for my June recommendation, which was “The Birdcage” as recommended by my friend Remington.

“The Birdcage,” director Mike Nichols’ 1996 comedy about a gay couple – nightclub owner Armand (Robin Williams) and his partner and star of his drag show Albert (Nathan Lane) who must act straight to appease the conservative parents (Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest) of their son’s fiancée, was one of my most anticipated recommendations when I asked for them back in December because it’s one that’s been on my “to watch” list for many years and I hadn’t gotten around to watching yet. Now I had no excuse not to do so. I also felt this would be a great pick for Pride Month. Thanks, Remi!

Have you ever watched a movie that’s really good but you’re somewhat underwhelmed by it?

Right or wrong that’s kind of how I felt after watching “The Birdcage.” It’s a really good movie. I enjoyed it. The performances – especially those of Williams and Lane – are really good and the script, adapted by Nichols’ early comedy partner Elaine May from a 1978 French film “La Cage aux Folles” was both humorous and touching.

The movie was so good my IMDb user score for it is an 8/10. The average user score comes out to 7.2 – so you can say I liked it more than most.

My problem comes from having high expectations – an issue I come across with many older, critically-acclaimed, potentially all-time great films.

Mike Nichols. Elaine May. Robin Williams. Gene Hackman. Nathan Lane. Dianne Wiest.

You see these names involved in a project and you think, “This might be the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.” So, when it just turns out to be a really good, lovely film and not something I’m instantly going to place in my all-time 100 favorite films it can seem underwhelming. That’s my problem. Those people involved did their job supremely.

I had some thoughts and questions while watching “The Birdcage” I’d like to mention.

• Is the film, now 27 years old, a bit dated in its portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters – even if it was more than likely ahead of its time in 1996 – and does that matter? Does it matter that straight actors in Williams and Hank Azaria are playing gay characters? Does Azaria’s performance as Armand and Albert’s maid Agador come off as too stereotypical? Is it more offensive that Azaria’s character is Guatemalan with a Hispanic accent than the previous things I mentioned? I wasn’t bothered by any of these things – though I could easily see how others might be.

 

• Does Hackman’s portrayal of a conservative senator at the time, despite him clearly being an asshole with bigotries, actually seem tame today compared to what we see in real-life conservative politicians?

 

• I love watching the eyes of actors. You get so much expressiveness from an actor’s eyes and some actors can do more with their eyes than they could with dialogue. Robin Williams’s eyes do an awful lot in “The Birdcage.” You can see the love he has for Val and Albert. And you can see that love mixed with the pain of trying to do something for his son, even if it kills him a little inside. Williams was one of the most gifted comedic actors of all time, but you also can’t forget how brilliant he was as an actor in general.

 
And here’s the biggest problem I had with the movie – though I acknowledge if it played out the way I wish it would’ve played out you wouldn’t actually have this particular movie.

Val (Dan Futterman), Armand’s son, clearly loves his parents but he’s also afraid of them affecting his relationship with Barbara (Calista Flockhart). So, he’s also embarrassed by them – which is hard to watch. The fact that he would make Armand act straight, change his lifestyle and the entire culture of his house and especially trying to kick Albert out of the house for the visit of the future in-laws is incredibly offensive to them – and Armand lets him know it, but Armand loves his son so much he’s willing to do it all for him.

This wouldn’t fly in my house. If I were Armand I’d tell Val to go to hell. I’m not changing who I am to appease people who don’t understand me, people who view me as something lesser. It sets up the entire plot of the film, but it’s also so offensive and such a despicable thing that Val does to his parents that it really makes you hate the character a bit.
 
OK, so looking at my list of recommendations for the second half of 2023 I can see that I clearly front-loaded the year with movies I was more interested in seeing – maybe because I was more interested in them or maybe because I thought I might give up on this exercise before the year’s end. I’m determined to make it through!

Next up is … “Morning Glory,” a 2010 rom-com starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, which has a Rotten Tomato score of 55 percent and an even worse Audience Score of 51 percent (which is a rare thing from what I’ve seen). Oh boy!