The Birdcage (1996)

Like I said, yesterday was a busy day.  I got to introduce two of my friends to two of my favorite horror movies: The Babadook and Hereditary.  It is one of my keenest joys in life to pick out horror movies for people who don't like/haven't been exposed to horror.  I'm pleased to say it was a total success.  Not only did they let me expose them to four hours of shrieking dread, they even stuck around and watched The Birdcage afterwards.  And that's what this post is for!  

Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane) have a comfortable, if familiar, life as the owner and star of South Beach's hottest gay club.  Then, Armand's son Val (Dan Futterman) shows up unexpectedly and announces he's engaged to the daughter (Calista Flockhart) of an extremely conservative "Family Values" senator (Gene Hackman).  The senator is suffering some blowback after his campaign partner is found dead in arms of an underaged prostitute, and is looking to capitalize on his daughter's Traditional White Wedding as a way to get back into the public's good graces.  Val asks his father to fake being in a straight relationship with his birth mother (Christine Baranski) long enough to impress the senator.  Hijinks ensue.

Asking someone to hide a huge part of their lives is an objectively shitty thing to do.  It doesn't matter why you're asking.  Val is a spoiled 20-year-old frat boy who causes a lot of unnecessary drama and heartache for everyone who loves him.  He is the antagonist of this film, not Senator Keeley.  The senator is just kind of an asshole.  

Robin Williams is always phenomenal.  Nathan Lane should have won an Oscar.  The cast did win a SAG award, which is fine I guess.  Anyway, this movie is damn near 30 years old and it still holds up remarkably well.  Which is depressing in its own way.  Whatever, it's a classic.  We're not going to think too hard about it this early in the day.