favorite movie #6: the birdcage

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #6 - The Birdcage (1996) - I have seen La Cage Aux Folles in film and on stage, but this is my favorite version. Everyone in the cast is superb, and like Some Like It Hot, the humor and energy of this delightful farce just never stops. And it has heart, too. Whenever it’s on, I watch.

Albert (Nathan Lane): Whatever I am, he made me! I was adorable once, young and full of hope. And now look at me! I'm this short, fat, insecure, middle-aged THING!

Armand (Robin Williams): I made you short?

i love the birdcage

Cinema Sentries had another fun feature posing this question:

What are your favorite movies based on plays? My choice was The Birdcage.

Dynamic duo Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane)

1996's The Birdcage, directed by Mike Nichols and written by Elaine May ... starts off fast and funny and never really stops. All of the acting is fabulous (how could it not be?), and much is made of the amusing fact that both sets of parents, although very different in many ways, object to the match — because they think the kids are too young to get hitched. Nathan Lane is amazing as the paranoid, emotional diva Albert, and he is matched quip for quip by an unusually restrained, but also very funny Robin Williams. The two are perfectly matched, as they battle and dance around each other.

Albert: "Whatever I am, he made me! I was adorable once, young and full of hope. And now look at me! I'm this short, fat, insecure, middle-aged thing!" 

Armand: "I made you short?"

...

You can read the rest of my post and others' picks here.

What would be your favorite film to stage adaptations?