It's hard to imagine saying this about an outrageous comedy, but Robin Williams - who made his career (at least the early part of it) by doing outrageous comedy (and the more outrageous the better) is completely, totally and absolutely outshone in "The Bird Cage" by Nathan Lane. That's not a criticism of Williams. He was fine, but Lane was simply over the top funny as the very feminine drag queen Albert, the gay lover/spouse of Armand (Williams). Armand and Albert have a son they've raised (Val, played by Dan Futterman) and he's about to get married to Barbara (Calista Flockhart). The catch? Barbara's father is the extremely conservative Senator Kevin Keeler (Gene Hackman) and he'll be none too pleased by the family his daughter is marrying in to.<br /><br />You'll laugh pretty much the whole way through at Lane, and it isn't just Lane. At times, Williams is playing the second or even third banana by the end of the movie. There's Albert and Armand's "maid" Agador Spartacus (Hank Azaria) who's almost as funny as Lane, and (while I don't want to give too much away) when you catch a glimpse of Hackman in drag near the end of the movie you'll be in stitches.<br /><br />It's great fun, burdened a little bit by an unnecessary decision to have Keeler involved in a political scandal. The whole movie would have worked quite well without that particular subplot. Still, this is a very funny movie. turn to it whenever you need a laugh. 8/10