Birdy is a 1984 character drama starring Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine as Vietnam veterans recovering from their war wounds. Growing up in South Philadelphia, Al (Nicolas Cage) and "Birdy" (Matthew Modine) became unlikely friends with their opposite personalities: Al is gregarious, confident and has an eye for the girls; Birdy has a dreamy, quiet personality. Yet they remain close until high school schedules and separate stints in the Army keep them apart. After the war, Al has lost much of his handsome face to a blast and Birdy sits alone, uncommunicative in a mental hospital. Birdy's psychiatrist, Doctor Weiss (John Harkins), asks Al to help find a way into Birdy's silent world. As Al visits Birdy in the Army ward, he uses their shared history and, in particular, the time they tried to learn how to fly as a way to connect. Directed by Alan Parker ("Mississippi Burning"), this dark drama looks at the long festering wounds of war and childhood.moreless
