Movie Week: "The Birdcage"
'The Birdcage' is a comedy based on the tension that occur when the daughter of an 'ultra-conservative US Senator' decides to marry a boy whose 'parents' are two gay men - a fact everyone (including the girl and the boy's biological mother) are determined to hide.
I liked this movie, though I would not buy it and probably will never see it again. It had quite a few 'moments', but I just didn't like the piece as a whole. I felt uncomfortable about laughing at people in an awkward situation, rather than laughing with them.
It was a Robin Williams film. I like Robin Williams comedies, generally, but in this I don't recall him laughing once. He was entirely too tense and serious all the time (i.e., NOT providing me someone to laugh with) and so I couldn't find his situation amusing. Nathan Lane as his feminine, drag-queen-like partner was funny because the character was meant to be over-the-top! Another notable excpetion was Hank Azaria (?) as the household handiman, also very obviously gay.
For the most part, it felt like a drama where the characters are all wearing clown outifts - some outfits are amusing by themselves, but the clowns themselves aren't doing their jobs.
Which is not to say 'bad acting', because I thought everyone was perfectly in character. I'm guessing it was the director, Mike Nichols' decision to play the movie this way.
I just think it would have been funnier to play the comedy for its comedic value rather than its realism.
I liked this movie, though I would not buy it and probably will never see it again. It had quite a few 'moments', but I just didn't like the piece as a whole. I felt uncomfortable about laughing at people in an awkward situation, rather than laughing with them.
It was a Robin Williams film. I like Robin Williams comedies, generally, but in this I don't recall him laughing once. He was entirely too tense and serious all the time (i.e., NOT providing me someone to laugh with) and so I couldn't find his situation amusing. Nathan Lane as his feminine, drag-queen-like partner was funny because the character was meant to be over-the-top! Another notable excpetion was Hank Azaria (?) as the household handiman, also very obviously gay.
For the most part, it felt like a drama where the characters are all wearing clown outifts - some outfits are amusing by themselves, but the clowns themselves aren't doing their jobs.
Which is not to say 'bad acting', because I thought everyone was perfectly in character. I'm guessing it was the director, Mike Nichols' decision to play the movie this way.
I just think it would have been funnier to play the comedy for its comedic value rather than its realism.
posted by Draic | 1:08 am
1 Comments:
I hear that the original, La Cage Aux Folles, (sp?) is far superior. Perhaps you should give it a whirl... as if you'd find it here!
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