Nicolas Cage Movie:

				Label: Columbia Salesrank: 217977
		Our Price: $16.46
		Used Price: $16.46
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Based on William Wharton's transcendent novel of the same name, this film is about many things: friendship, war, and, of course, birds. The framing device is an effort by a horribly scarred combat soldier (Nicolas Cage) to break through to his best friend, Birdy (Matthew Modine), hospitalized after seemingly being driven mad by fighting in the Vietnam War. Cage then flashes back to their boyhood, where Birdy, a canary aficionado, was considered the school weirdo but managed to be a solid companion nonetheless. Directed by Alan Parker, it works best as a coming-of-age story, but misses the bizarre psychological transferences of the book, in which Birdy imagines himself within the world of canaries he creates in his bedroom at his parents' house. Modine is fine as an out-of-it misfit enraptured by his own little universe. --Marshall Fine

Birdy [Region 2] Reviews:
Great movie
2009-05-08 - It is a great movie, just a little slow at the beginning. The book of course is a lot better thought.

For the Birds
2009-03-21 - I wasn't sure what to expect when I got a copy of "Birdy". After watching it, I'm not sure what I got. This movie operates on some strange premises; that a teenage boy would like to be a bird, that an All-American type teenager would befriend him and follow along with all this craziness, and that the Army would take this flake into the service. Some movies require "the willing suspension of disbelief" in order to enjoy them. However, "Birdy" pretends to be a serious film about friendship and devotion which leaves little room for inanity (while giving plenty of room for insanity). I note a lot of high praise bourne out of what I assume to be an emotional appeal. I'm often taken in with such films but this one just went down too many wrong way streets to keep me involved. The three stars I do give "Birdy" are for various scenes that did work well but there weren't many.

The End of the Innocence
2008-12-10 - This powerful 1984 film is directed by Alan Parker and explores the shadows of the soul and the aftermath of war.

Based on a novel of the same name by author William Wharton, the plot focuses on boyhood friends Birdy (Matthew Modine) and Al Columbato (Nicolas Cage) who serve in Vietnam. The war experience ultimately rips to shreds what was already a fragile psyche of Birdy - whose fixation with birds now has him believing that he is a bird - and he is sent to a mental hospital for treatment. Columbato - who was also injured in the war - goes beyond the call of duty to help his friend find his way "home."

The use of numerous flashback scenes of their life together as teenagers during the 1960s makes for a dynamic reminder of the potential of youth and the end of the innocence. The film was awarded the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

The movie depicts the perilous path in life and the minefield of trying to bring back into focus the signposts from a lost psychological stability.

Birdy
2008-11-11 - This movie is amazingly acted! The story is haunting, but I find myself watching it over and over. I recommend it highly!

Birds make me wanna get naked
2008-06-18 - And now for something completely different.

This is an intensely dramatic film about coming of age and Vietnam, and it never fails to take itself 100% seriously. But a few scenes, well, they're etched into my brain forever like the scars on Nicholas "delusions of adequacy" Cage's face.

I'm certainly not calling it a bad movie. Three stars, and I watched it all the way through. But damn, if I hadn't seen the "1984" part, I'd have called it a career killer for a naked man in a bird cage. Dude dreamed about birds, woke up naked, and towelled himself off below the waist. That's weird.

Put another way, this movie definitely works on the level it's meant to, as a dramatic and moving story. But I could also picture the yahoos at The Agony Booth having a field day with the screen shots and the captions, which I was doing at the same time as I was watching it dramatically.