As modem as this minute, as pertinent as today, this Elaine May- scripted film portrays Armand (ROBIN WILLIAMS) and Albert (NATHAN LANE) as having a home life many would envy. They share a long-term committed relationship encompassing their lives and careers and have together raised Armand’s son Val (DAN FUTTERMAN) into a caring, responsible and mature young man. So when Val arrives home and announces his engagement to the daughter of an ultra-conservative U.S. Senator, what choice is there but to accept his decision with love?
Meanwhile, Senator Keeley (GENE HACKMAN) and his wife (DIANNE WIEST) are facing bigger problems than their daughter’s (CALISTA FLOCKHART) unexpected engagement. The senator is watching his right-wing constituency evaporate with the scandalous demise of his closest political ally. A visit to their future in-laws could be just the thing to take the public’s focus off the Keeley’s messy predicament.
With the impending visit of his fiancee’s rigid family, Val asks his father to straighten up the apartment just a bit. All it entails is the removal of Armand’s art collection, furnishings, clothes, job … and Albert. Easier said than done. The arrival of the Keeleys sets off a comedy of errors as Armand and Albert attempt to play out the roles of your typical American husband and “wife.”
