THE BIRDCAGE (MGM/UA, priced for rental, rated R) 1996. Directed by Mike Nichols; starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart and Hank Azaria.
Nathan Lane’s broad comedic portrayal of a homosexual apartment neighbor in Frankie and Johnny was terrific, positioned as comic relief by a secondary character in a limited number of scenes.
Taking a similar character and putting him center stage is a fatal mistake.
Lane shares The Birdcage spotlight with Robin Williams, his gay lover, Armand, the owner of a Miami Beach nightclub where Lane, a cross-dressing singer named Albert, is the headliner.
Their performances and the entire movie (which is based on the stage play La Cage Aux Folles) are way over the top and therefore grow thin quickly, unless your threshold for such silliness is high.
The premise is completely uninspired and essentially a return to the antics of Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire, in which Williams pretended to be a woman. Here, it’s his lover, Albert, who plays the role of a woman during a dinner with the parents of Armand’s straight son’s fiancee. The situation is as chaotic as its predecessor and with nearly the same results.
Though each move is quite predictable, Lane and Williams still manage to generate some laughs out of sheer outrageousness.
Better because she is less obvious, Dianne Wiest, as the fiancee’s perplexed but understanding mother, is initially mystified by her senator husband’s (Gene Hackman) inexplicable interest in Albert’s female character, and then patient as she must keep repeating that Albert is not a woman to her disbelieving spouse.
FRENCH TWIST (Miramax, priced for rental, rated R) 1996. Directed by Josiane Balasko; starring Victoria Abril, Josiane Balasko, Alain Chabat, Ticky Holgado, Miguel Bose and Catherine Hiegel.
If one gives French Twist the customary unexplained and unfair allowances for a film simply because it was produced in a country other than the United States (France) and in a foreign language (French with English subtitles), then this movie could just barely qualify for a recommendation.
But judged impartially, this somewhat uncertain effort, with its obvious plot twist, falls just short of a recommendation.
Director, writer and co-star Josiane Balasko wastes no opportunity to show off the naked body of sexy Spanish star Victoria Abril, who is delightfully effervescent but rather unconvincing as Loli, a mother of two who is so frustrated with her husband’s lack of attention that she is receptive to the unexpected aggressive advances of a lesbian passer-by.
But this relationship drama for the 1990s seems uncertain whether it wants to be a farce or a legitimate dramatic commentary. One moment the shocked husband, Laurent (Alain Chabat), is literally prancing around naked in front of the unimpressed lesbian lover, Marijo (Balasko), and the next minute he is having a serious confrontation with her about his infidelities and inattentiveness.
The preposterous situation itself – Marijo and Laurent alternate days of the week to be Loli’s lovers; they all sleep under the same roof – is played both for broad laughs and for drama, a difficult mix at best.
(C)1996 Scott Hettrick. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
