Birdy (1984): The Way of the Bird [Joey’s Review]

To say I knew nothing about Birdy before watching it is unfair to the word “nothing.” Even as semi-obsessive as I was about Cage before beginning this vision quest through his career, I’d never heard of this movie. All I had to go on before starting it were three facts:

1. Nicolas Cage is in it. (Obviously.)
2. Matthew Modine is in it.
3. “THIS MOVIE IS SO WEIRD.” <– a message from our special podcast guest, Christian Larson (listen to hear him tomorrow!)

I know this may unveil some film ignorance, but this was the first film I’d seen that the director or writers were involved in. Birdy was almost an entirely new experience for me, and one I wish I could re-live over and over again. This film is delightfully weird and wonderfully tender, and it features a terrific performance by Cage.

Cage plays Alfonso ‘Al’ Columbato, who (like many of Cage’s other characters) is one of the cool kids in his high school and in his town. But Al’s life won’t be great forever; Birdy takes place during the Vietnam War, and Al and Birdy (Modine) will soon find themselves “in the shit” and be irrevocably broken by their experiences.

Unlike the other movies so far in #CageClub, Birdy plays with timelines in a new way. The film takes place after Cage and Modine return from the Vietnam War. Birdy is in an army hospital, unable (or unwilling) to speak. Cage’s wounds are more physical than mental (at the start of the film, anyway), and his face is bandaged up following an explosion / napalm fire. Cage isn’t the titular Birdy, but his hair is downright rooster-esque when we’re first introduced to him:

Much of the film’s narrative takes place in flashbacks. Cage is trying to bring his friend back to reality by reminding him of all the good times the two shared. The two characters came from opposite sides of the social tracks; Cage is Mr. Cool, while Modine is just a social outcast who likes birds. His character’s real name is never given; he’s just “Birdy” for the entire film.

The first flashback begins with Cage playing baseball with his younger brother (who soon disappears and is never heard from again, in the first of many narrative threads that are probably fleshed out more in the book this screenplay was based on) and his younger brother’s friends. Cage crushes a home run, because he’s an American hero, and as the ball lands in Birdy’s parents’ backyard, we see Birdy perched high, high, high in a tree. It’s a wonderful character introduction; you know right away that this person does not belong with the rest of humanity.

In the first of many Cage-nections, the next time we see Cage, he’s under some bleachers making out with a girl and trying to cop a feel. This is his second boob grab in his last three films and — spoiler alert! — not his last for this movie. But more on that later.

His younger brother summons Cage away from his paramour (who’s beyond indifferent at this point) to get his knife back from Birdy, “who stole it.” Birdy didn’t steal it, though; he bought it from some other kid who stole it from Cage’s brother. After that little misunderstanding is mended, we learn that Birdy is training pigeons to be carrier pigeons, and Cage’s brother says, “Hey, if he did that, I’d want one!” Apparently sparked by this sudden possibility of money (?), Cage becomes fast friends with Modine.

Modine quickly indoctrinates Cage into “the way of the bird.” Cage is SO happy; he (apparently) loves birds SO much. This is a match made in heaven. (Bird heaven? Is that one of the twelve heavens?)

Within about 5 on-screen minutes of becoming friends, Cage and Modine are both dressed in full-length bird costumes. These costumes are basically “if Wilfred was a bird.” They’re the best thing ever, and an early frontrunner for my Halloween costume this year.

The two climb a tall building to capture some birds to train. But trouble ensues as Birdy gets a little too daring and nearly falls off the roof. Even though Cage is a workout machine in this film, he lacks the upper body strength to pull Birdy up onto the roof. Have no fear, though, for Birdy can fly! Or, he thinks he can fly. He turns his body and launches onto a pile of dirt, like, 30-40 feet below. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, since we already know he doesn’t die in this flashback), he lives and isn’t too badly hurt.

Cage rushes down to tend to his friend, creating a surprisingly tender moment (and one that foreshadows the film’s most dramatic scene).

We’re summoned back to the present, and the wonderful framing by director Alan Parker shows just how powerless Birdy is to the world around him:

We’re then shuttled back to another flashback. Birdy’s recovered from the injuries he sustained from “flying,” but Cage has some bad news: Birdy’s mom poisoned half his birds and chased off the other half. “We’re out of the pigeon business,” Cage says. The two go back and forth, and Modine eventually says, “NOBODY WANTS TO BE IN A CAGE!” I make this point on the podcast (which also includes full audio from this scene), but this is a slap in the face to #CageClub and Nicolas Cage himself: HEY, MATTHEW MODINE: SOME OF US LIKE CAGES.

Anyway, I feel like the two settle on a compromise; they just did Birdy’s weird bird-centric thing, now they’re gonna do Cage’s cool girl-centric thing. What’s the best way to pick up chicks? With a sweet car, of course! The two head off to a junkyard and fork over a fat wad of cash (what appears to be a bonkers amount of money) for a broken down hoop-dee that doesn’t even run. The two fix it up, though, much to the dismay of Cage’s father, who is a real piece of work. He and Cage don’t get along, and he seems sort of annoyed by the fact that his son would take the initiative to fix up an old car. Hey dad, your son’s about to head off to war and have his life changed forever. Be nicer, eh?

There’s one important note: the two aren’t old enough to drive. After a delightful “fake road trip” in their car (where they never actually go anywhere), Al and Birdy take a ride down to Atlantic City. This means that — you guessed it! — Cage is BACK ON THE BEACH, where he is King of All. The duo pick up a pair of girls (though, let’s be honest, it was almost assuredly all Cage’s doing) and experience everything that the boardwalk has to offer.

Rollercoasters!

Sex on the beach!

That’s about it!

Birdy can’t stop being weird for even long enough for high school Cage to finish, and Birdy’s “date” whisks her friend away from Cage. Blue-balled Cage is FURIOUS, and administers his #CageAdvice to Birdy on the beach. Basically, he espouses the benefits of boobs and how great they are. “WE’RE TALKIN’ TITS HERE!” he says. Yes, they are. Birdy doesn’t care, though; he’s seen breasts in National Geographic, and says they’re like cows’ breasts “only in a stupid place.” Point: Birdy?

It’s in our next return to the present that we see Cage beginning to break down. He’s crying, he’s unhappy with everything going on, he’s exasperated with Birdy. “So you’re finally a bird,” he says. “Big deal.” Once a champion of all things Birdy, Al is a broken man. Conveniently (or, more accurately, inconveniently) for him, he’s at an army hospital. The more time he spends trying to cure Birdy, the more time the doctors and administrators spend trying to hospitalize him. He has PTSD-riddled dreams and is afraid of what people would think if they knew how broken he was.

Again in the past, a simpler time, Birdy decides it’s finally time to buy some birds. He goes to some woman’s house, which is complete with a sunroom loaded with birds just flying around. She describes the process of bird sex, and says she only wants her birds to have sex like good, Christian folk do. Not like this other guy in the corner, who’d be content to let the birds have “a Roman orgy.” This is all dialogue in the movie. Birdy absorbs none of it, though; he’s found his new group of friends. He falls in love with a canary and brings her home.

But as Birdy is falling in love with a bird, a real-life human woman falls in love with him. After building a da Vinci-like contraption for science class, it lands near a girl named Doris, who gives Birdy “the eyes.” Birdy doesn’t care; Doris isn’t a bird and, therefore, isn’t worth his time. Birdy’s mom thinks otherwise, though, and forces Birdy to go to prom with Doris a little later in the movie. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Birdy buys a second bird. This time, a male. What’s a good name for a male bird? Why, “Alfonso” of course. What’s that? That’s Cage’s character’s name? Oh, right! Cage is thrown off by this stunning turn of events, but to Birdy it’s a totally normal thing to do. Alfonso is only a temporary name, though; Birdy plans to learn how to “speak canary” to communicate with him and learn his real name. He’s spiraling down the rabbit (bird?) hole.

The deeper Birdy gets into his bird obsession, the more he wants to fly. The two work out, and we get the triumphant return of shirtless Cage. We’re still at the point in his life where he’s totally ripped, and I feel like it’s in his contract that he needs to be shirtless at least once per movie, for an extended period of time.

Birdy’s working on his core bird muscles, and the two head off to a junkyard so Birdy can take flight. Wearing (again) da Vinci-like apparel, Birdy sits on the handlebars of Cage’s bicycle. The two build up momentum and Birdy is launched into the air! He flies! He genuinely flies. (Well, to be fair, it’s more like falling with style.) The most important thing to note in this scene is that it’s the first of three times that the film plays the song “La Bamba.” Why? I don’t know! It’s “of the time,” but I feel like they paid way too much money for the rights to this song and wanted to use it as much as they could.

While at the junkyard (though off-screen), the two hook up with the junkyard owner, who catches spare dogs in his free time. He’ll pay the boys “a dollar a dog,” and the three head off to bag some pups. It’s a straight-up comical sequence, complete with oversized nets and undersized dogs. Before the junkyard owner can bag what’s obviously the most intimidating dog in the world, a line of dogs shows up to chase him off. In a Raising Arizona meets White God sort of scene, a line of dogs chases the three away. What’s the scene scored to? You guessed it: “La Bamba”!

The trio is able to capture some dogs, though, and begin their journey to turn those dogs into some sweet, sweet cash. They’re accosted on the road by a man who claims the trio stole his dog, and the four race toward their destination. Where they wind up is a hellish nightmare, and very really a scene that may be more horrifying than anything else in any of Cage’s movies ever. It’s a slaughterhouse-meets-concentration camp for animals. I’m not even going to screenshot this because it’s terrifying. Skinless dogs are being strewn about, horses are strung up by their hind legs to be skinned and killed (and turned into glue?). It’s shocking and I hate it. Al and Birdy wise up and free the dogs, including the one to the man they met on the street. They all escape and (thankfully) never see that junkyard owner again.

Birdy’s nightmare sequence isn’t over yet, though. He returns home to find a neighborhood cat has snuck into his room and trapped one of his birds in its mouth.

Birdy rescues the bird, gets rid of the cat, and resuscitates the bird. (This all happens.) The bird is back to life! With such a near-death experience, it’s clear that the bird has one thought on its mind: make up for lost time. It’s not long before we have our first on-screen #CageClub birth — of a baby bird!

A quick aside, though: We’re returned to the army hospital in the present. Cage’s mental breakdown continues, and his frustration reaches the hospital’s nurse, who’s genuinely only been sweet to Birdy. In a moment of confusion/instinct, Cage goes to kiss this nurse and grabs his second feel this movie:

The nurse gently shuts him down, in what’s all-too-likely a common occurrence of the time and place. However much credit those nurses got in real life wasn’t enough.

We’re thrust into another flashback, and this one is at the school dance. Birdy takes Doris, Cage (I think?) brings his sex-on-the-beach buddy. Or maybe someone else. It doesn’t matter; Cage can have all the women in this movie. They all want him. As they should. Cage isn’t content to just have a good time himself, though. Keeping in line with the boob-grabbing man that he is, he encourages Birdy to cop a feel of his own:

Birdy declines. He’s so over prom and humanity that he leaves Doris mid-date to go talk to his dad, who’s a janitor at the school. Busy cleaning up what I can only imagine is an endless amount of vomit (“these boys can’t hold their liquor,” his dad says), Birdy’s dad gives Birdy a couple bucks to take Doris somewhere nice after prom. After prom, though, Doris drives Birdy out to some romantic point. “You’ve been so nice to me all night,” she says. “Now you can have whatever you want.” She peels down her dress, and presents her breasts to Birdy. I call them breasts because, unlike Cage (who would so call them “tits”), Birdy doesn’t know what to do with them. He sort of lifts them each up like a scientist. Doris (rightly) freaks out, and the date is over. So long, Doris. You picked a sweet one, but Birdy isn’t the man you deserve.

We finally find ourselves in Vietnam. It’s an hour and 40 minutes into a movie where Vietnam is the backdrop for all the action and conflict that we’re finally there. And it’s horrific. There’s nothing to enjoy over here. It’s three minutes of blood, death, and horror. It’s immediately understandable why these kids all came home so messed up. It doesn’t last long, but it’s all we need to know the full extent of the terror they encountered.

Time is running out in the present. Hope is running out, too. Cage tries a last-ditch effort to bring back his friend; he has Birdy’s mom send over all the baseballs she stole from the neighborhood kids’ baseball games. This, too, fails to do the trick. In one of the most tender scenes so far in #CageClub, and Cage’s best acting performance of his career (to this point, anyway), Al cradles Birdy in his arms and pours out his heart and soul. Birdy wakes up and tells Al, “You’re so full of shit.” It’s the perfect comedic moment to end the tension of this devastating scene, and Cage is shocked that his friend is back!

Or is he? Much like the end of THE COTTON CLUB, the end to Birdy may be one that doesn’t necessarily happen. There are no signs (up to this point) that Birdy will ever recover from his PTSD. Cage’s speech is powerful, but is it really enough to snap Birdy back to reality? I’d like to believe the ending is real, though, because it’s far preferable to the alternative: a world of never-ending shock treatments and full vegetative states.

Cage freaks out, overjoyed. The doctor rushes in, and Birdy doesn’t say anything to him. (Again, making me think the end we see isn’t real.) He thinks Cage has lost his mind, so he goes to get orderlies do subdue him. “Why didn’t you talk?!” a frantic Al asks. “Because I had nothing to say to him,” Birdy answers. The orderlies come in, and Cage knocks both out. He escapes with Birdy to the stairwell — and heads up, rather than down. (We’re in a movie called Birdy, after all. OF COURSE we’re headed up.)

Cage begins to barricade the door. Birdy walks to the edge of the roof.

Cage turns to see what’s happening. He screams for Birdy, but it’s too late; Birdy jumped.

It’s at this point that a million things race through your mind. Much like BIRDMAN (which, apparently, owes a lot to Birdy), the ending could go any number of ways; you’re hoping for ambiguity and you’re hoping that this character can actually fly. But this entire film is grounded in reality, and a character suddenly being able to fly isn’t the ending this film deserves. Sadly, the ending it deserves, the ending it’s been building to, is one where Birdy jumps and falls to his death. A broken Cage then allows the hospital to administer him, because he’s lost everything that matters.

HOWEVER! That’s not the ending that Birdy gives us! Instead, it gives us what may be the greatest ending of a movie in cinema history. (This is a slight exaggeration, but it’s also not too far off base, which says something about this movie.) Cage rushes over to the edge and looks over. Standing there, on a lower roof, about 10 feet below, is Birdy. He dusts off his hands, looks up at Cage, and says, “What?”

CREDITS. THIS IS HOW THE MOVIE ENDS. IT’S PERFECTION, AND ONE OF THE FUNNIEST THINGS I’VE SEEN ON SCREEN EVER.

The only thing that makes it better? The credits play “La Bamba” for the third time!

How can I watch it? Like our special podcast guest Christian Larson, you can rent this movie on YouTube for $2.99. You can also buy the DVD, if you want the barest of bare bones DVD releases ever.

What’s up next? Another movie I know nothing about: THE BOY IN BLUE!