On the one hand, the return of primary stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as delightful gay couple Renato and Albin, and supporting cast members Michel Galabru and Benny Luke as conservative in-law Simon Charrier and outrageous manservant Jacob. Why, composer extraordinaire Ennio Morricone also again lends his talents to this picture. On the other hand, Georges Lautner enters as a new director following Édouard Molinaro's declination to helm a new installment in the series; I won't judge Lautner solely on the basis of one prior experience, but I will say that 1974 "thriller" 'Les seins de glace' was such a godawful mess that it was one of the worst movies I've watched in recent months. And in what is all too often a bad sign for many films, this second sequel is marked by a writing team of six, with only Marcello Danon returning from the predecessors. Adding to the troubles of the viewing experience, it's hard to come by a version with the desired French audio track and English subtitles, so international viewers must suffer through the terrible English dubbing if they wish to give '"Elles" se marient' a try. No, the latter doesn't specifically reflect on the quality of the whole, but it does make the title more difficult to engage with, for this is the type of dubbing that gives dubbing a bad name.
And then, sitting to watch 'La cage aux folles III,' we begin to assess its content and craftsmanship. And, friends, things aren't looking good. Simply put, this feature struggles somewhat painfully to achieve anything remotely resembling the wit and charm that characterized the 1978 progenitor, or even the farcical 1985 followup when it was operating at its best. A fair bit of these ninety minutes could have been cut while losing nothing, for example scenes that in theory reflect the endless banter between Renato and Albin but which carry none of the cleverness to make them matter. Dialogue is mostly limp, scene writing often just trundles along, and characters feel like hollow shades of what they might have been previously. Meanwhile, it sure seems to me as though the writers were straining so hard to conjure a workable story that I'm surprised no one landed in the hospital after hurting themselves. 'La cage aux folles' cheekily played with masculinity and femininity, and gender and sexuality, while plainly celebrating the queer community; 'La cage aux folles II,' at its worst, felt like it was sometimes punching down to laugh at rather than with that same community and subculture. 'La cage aux folles III' comes across as a group of people who wanted nothing to do with the LGBTQ community, but in having signed on to make a sequel in this series, were nonetheless obligated to do the bare minimum and give the appearance of not being outwardly homophobic, and they had difficulty doing so. That's obviously not an accurate summation of the circumstances - but that's how it feels, as the minutes tick by.
I sort of feel bad for Tognazzi and Serrault, not to mention Luke and the other cast members. Compared to the first two movies in the very least, this is not at all a good illustration of the actors' capabilities. The crew turned in reliable work, sure: lighting, sets, costume design, hair, makeup, and so on. While the result is sadly flat and devoid of any vitality, Lautner at least demonstrates baseline capability in orchestrating shots and scenes (more than I can say for that one other title of his that I've seen). In fairness, maybe none of this is Lautner's fault after all, and anyway, none of these qualities truly matter, for the writing mostly just altogether flounders. There are some small kernels of intelligence here, sure, and even ingenuity; it's not all bad. But apart from being weak generally, too much of Part III just feels like an empty rehash of Part I, or even Part II. In this moment, I can't actually remember if I laughed even once while watching, though I know I came close on maybe a couple occasions. Frankly, if one were trying to write an unfunny, self-parodying entry of a franchise, or even worse, a title that would serve to actively sabotage that of which it is a part, '"Elles' se marient' may be an exemplar. As if to kind of illustrate the point: even though she's given only a small supporting part and doesn't show up until the third act, the most earnest writing that this can claim surrounds the character of Cindy; Antonella Interlenghi may actually give the most admirable performance here, and in turn Tognazzi and Serrsault are at their best when they share scenes with her. How, truly, does this share a name with the 1978 film?
There are worse ways to spend one's time. Even if one is a diehard fan of someone involved, however, or Jean Poiret's original play, or the first two movies - I just cannot recommend 'La cage aux folles III.' The humor is all but absent, not to mention the heart that we got so much of seven years prior, and what we get in their stead is nothing worth talking about. Why, the plot is resolved so feebly, with a horridly confounding shock of Movie Magic, that the production takes another hit right at the very end. I can assume I'm not alone in having sought this out just to complete the trifecta, but please take my word for it: I'll watch anything, anything at all, and I admit to entering this with low expectations. Still I was disappointed. 'La cage aux folles III' is a sad, dull send-off for the series, and I think we'd all be better off if we just try to forget about it.
