According to the bad secret they hide, Armanda Goldman, who claims that he is a very rich man and in fact, he only owns a popular nightclub in Miami Beach, who has an affair with Starina, struggle upon knowing his son's engagement with the daughter of a well-known senator, the thing that brings terrible for him.
The Birdcage grossed nearly $200 million worldwide in 1996, and that is significant. Box Office Mojo says it's the highest grossing queer film of all time, though they're not counting Frozen and 300, and they probably should.
If The Birdcage isn't exactly the Mike Nichols-Elaine May movie of our dreams, it does manage to transform what was formerly a campy bit of French fluff into one of the loopiest, most hysterical family-values movies ever made.
At its core, it is about human relationships. They're extreme relationships, and they're cross-wired to get an electric reaction, but they're real characters nonetheless.
What makes Mike Nichols' version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there.
Robin Williams plays off of a flaming Nathan Lane with delicious understatement and anchors a farce that moves along at a brisk pace-with or without heels.
