Birdy

Director Alan Parker tackles this adapation of William Wharton's novel, which retains much of the source material's texture and complexity. Matthew Modine is Birdy, who comes back from Vietnam mentally shattered and deludes himself into thinking that he is a bird, an animal that has obsessed him ...more

Though set in a veterans hospital after the Vietnam War, Birdy is not a film about the war or its effects; and while it might focus on a deranged patient and the struggle to return him to normalcy, the film isn't really about mental illness either. In fact, it's a credit to director Alan Parker and stars Matthew Modine and Nicholas Cage that Birdy, no matter how bizarre, maintains its focus on the humanity of central characters instead of wallowing in the weird. Parker -- who brought us Pink ...more