The Birdcage (1996)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Box Office: 185.3 million USD

My Rating: 8/10

Description: Armand Goldman (Robin Williams), a Jewish gay man, owns a drag bar, where his partner Albert (Nathan Lane) frequently performs. When Armand's son Val (Dan Futterman) comes home to tell them that he's getting married, they soon find out that his fiancée (Calista Flockhart) is the daughter of a Republican senator (Gene Hackman)--and that she is coming over for dinner with her parents. Armand and Albert must play it straight and Christian to avoid sabotaging their son's relationship.

My Thoughts: Nathan Lane is perfect in every role he does. In this case, he manages to play the role of a (secretly!) Jewish mother so well that the Republicans completely buy it. The film is funny and charming and sad and has a lovely ending. One thing I adored about it was that before Armand agrees to play along, he says, "I don't want to be someone else. Do you want me to be someone else?" Val starts off ungrateful and ashamed of his family, but ends up appreciating them at the end. When Senator Keeley sees both Albert in drag and Val's birth mother (Christine Baranski), who has come to play the part of Armand's wife, the senator says, "How many mothers does this boy have?" Val goes up to stand next to Albert and says, "One. This is my mother." The movie came out in 1996, so not every single aspect ages perfectly, but surprisingly, the film as a whole actually holds up quite well. All around, it's a sweet film if you want to have your heart broken and put back together again.

Best Line: "Yes, I wear foundation. Yes, I live with a man. Yes, I'm a middle-aged fag. But I know who I am, Val. It took me twenty years to get here and I'm not letting some idiot senator destroy that. Fuck the senator. I don't give a damn what he thinks."

Honourable Mention: "No! You can't be Jewish!"