The Birdcage, which is roughly based on a French
movie, is a delightful, very American comedy about mismatched inlaws when
the son of a homosexual couple announces his marriage to the daughter of a
very conservative senator. Underlying this is a warm, human story of the
homosexual couple's relationship.
NotesThis script also is a good one to study for efficient scene design. Transitions can be immediate and visual: when Armand, trying to teach Albert to be manly, challenges a hunk and gets clobbered, the cut is from the challenge directly to Armand with an ice pack, without a single punch shown to the audience (54 min.). The fight itself is irrelevant to the comedy. And again, when Albert storms off in the car after misinterpreting romance between Armand and Val's mother, the cut is directly to Armand arriving home after taking the bus (62 min.), the time in between being irrelevant to the movement of the story. Beginning writers seldom make scene transitions with such efficiency.
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting