Customer Reviews

Soapdish [VHS]

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a romantic comedy with the emphasis on comedy for a change. As usual the lovers--Sally Field as almost-over-the-hill soap opera queen, Celeste Talbert; and Kevin Kline as marginally employed and marginally talented actor, Jeffrey Anderson--are working at cross purposes, seemingly unaware that they are madly in love, etc. Owing a little to Bette Davis's Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950) and a whole lot to the slapstick theatrical tradition, Sally Field goes over the top towards hilarity as she malaprops her way to love and happiness. Kevin Kline, one of the more underrated leading men of recent years, is also very good and very winning as he manages to be handsome, vulnerable, egotistical and lovable all at the same time.

The misadventures center around Celeste's fear of losing her audience as she has entered her forties, and reach the crisis point with the arrival of her niece, aspiring actress Cori Craven (Elisabeth Shue) who turns out NOT to be her niece, with ensuing plot complications. Cori manages to get a small part in the soap opera as a homeless deaf mute before discovering her true relationship to Celeste (and to Jeffrey Anderson as well)--but never mind.

As a romantic counterpoint or foil to the leads are Robert Downey Jr. (soap opera director, David Barnes) and Cathy Moriarty (Montana and Nurse Nan). David Barnes is oh so hot for her, but she cares only about one thing: getting rid of Celeste so that she might shine more brightly on the set. To this end she gets Barnes to do all sorts of things to wreck Celeste's career, but through happenstance and/or a perverse logic, all his attempts go awry, much to the delight of the viewer.

Whoopie Goldberg plays Rose Schwartz, the show's chief writer and Celeste's alter-ego and confidant while Carrie Fisher has a modest part as the hard-as-nails producer of the show.

I thought this was funnier than the only other spoof of the soap opera world that I have seen (Young Doctors in Love 1982 which burlesqued TV's General Hospital and was pretty good). Soapdish is funnier with a daffy script and plenty of laugh-out-loud one-liners and terrific performances by Field, Kline and Downy, Jr. But see this for Sally Field who is outstanding.

"the last stages of brain fever - she could BLOW at any moment!" I have 2 dreams regarding this movie. 1. To produce it as a stage play 2. DVD. DVD. DVD. This movie was WAY underrated. It's brilliant. Sally Field and Kevin Kline could not be better. Too many quotes to choose from. Watch it. If you don't love it, watch it again. Sooner than you know, you'll be quoting it non-stop! I wish i could watch it on DVD now!

If I'm doing a chore that I don't really want to devote my mind to or if I'm just looking for a pleasant way to spend a rather boring afternoon, "Soapdish," with its endless cast of Oscar winners and nominees, is the movie I watch.

Now, when I first saw it in theaters when I was around 14 or so, I was not as big a fan of it because I wasn't as big of a soap watcher. As I've seen more of the soaps and their surrounding culture that this film lampoons so closely, I find the humor to be spot on.

At this point, I've seen the film so many times that I can recite Celeste's speech about giving up her baby by heart. I know how many people Montana Moorehead attempts to seduce and how many she succeeds in seducing. I know that the producer David is a sniveling pig opportunist who embraces every twist that manages to work in his favor.

The script is hysterical. Line after line is quotable. And though I wouldn't call it a great movie, it's certainly an immense amount of good fun.

And the cast is top-notch, as well. At this point, the Oscar nominees and winners in the cast are: Cathy Moriarty, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr., Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Kline and Sally Field. The film also features funny appearances from notables like Garry Marshall, Teri Hatcher, Costas Mandylor and Carrie Fisher. Oh, and to show its daytime TV savvy, Finola Hughes ("All My Children"), Stephen Nichols ("General Hospital"), John Tesh (late of "Entertainment Tonight") and Leeza Gibbons also make appearances.

Celeste Talbert is the Queen of Soap Opera divas. But after years of success on her show, "The Sun Also Sets," she finds herself beset with a wild assortment of wacky problems including jealous rivals, an ambitious niece, incompetent costumers, off-the-wall plots for the show, and the return of an old boyfriend who has his own ax to grind with his former sweetie. Needless to say, what happens ends up topping anything the soap opera could ever produce. SOAPDISH is a very funny farce that takes the excesses of soap opera and punches them up to a fever pitch level, poking fun at everything from TV networks to dinner theatre. The cast is top-notch, with Sally Field as the neurotic Talbert leading the way. She is matched by the hammy Kevin Kline as her old boyfriend with the big ego, while Whoopi Goldberg is delighfully droll as the show's head writer. Cathy Moriarty is pure venom as Talbert's rival, and Robert Downey, Jr., is perfectly befuddled as the show's producer with a yen for Moriarty. Nice performances are also turned in by Teri Hatcher (from TV's LOIS AND CLARK) and Elisabeth Shue, who both make one of their first film appearances in this flick. Overall, SOAPDISH is a wonderfully wacky film that should delight anyone who enjoys "behind the stage" type stories. Definitely recommended.

Soapdish is a delightfully funny comedy about the actors on a soap opera (The Sun Also Sets) whose real lives top their lives on the television show. The convincing acting and the zesty script with its one liners kept my attention all the way through; and the choreography works wonders in the scenes where we see the soap opera show within the movie.

The action begins with Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty) plotting with David Seton Barnes (Robert Downy, Jr.), TV exec, to get the older Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) kicked off the show so that Montana can be the new star. David is motivated to help Montana because he wants romantic time alone with Montana; and together David and Montana cook up all sorts of ideas to kick Celeste off the show--none of which work.

Of course, it doesn't help them when Rose Schwartz (Whoopi Goldberg), head writer for The Sun Also Sets, strongly opposes Celeste being written off the show. In the wildest stunt to make Celeste miserable, Montana and David plan to bring Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline) back to the show. Hilarious complications ensue between Celeste and Jeffrey as a blossoming romance slowly heats up between Celeste's niece Lori Craven (Elizabeth Shue) and Jeffrey.

Look for some great acting by Whoopi Goldberg and Sally Field is excellent as Celeste Talbert. Garry Marshall also plays the part of studio big wig Edmund Edwards with panache. Excellent!

Will Celeste eventually be driven off the show because of some plans of Montana and David? What will happen when Edmund Edwards and his peers decide to air a live installment during which Celeste, Jeffrey and Lori learn which one of them has to leave to show so that there is more peace behind the scenes? No spoilers here, folks--just watch the movie, enjoy and find out!

Overall Soapdish may not be the funniest movie I ever saw but it comes rather close. I highly recommend this film for people who enjoy a good comedy with excellent actors to support it.

This is such a fun video. Sally Field is darling. Robert Downey Jr. is at his best. Teri Hatcher and Cathy Moriarty are bitches in the finest tradition! As if this wasn't enough, Whoopi Goldberg is the icing on the cake. The first time I watched this video I almost turned it off, I thought it was so stupid, but if you find yourself feeling this way stick with it! The surprise ending is worth the wait!!!!!!!!!

"Soapdish" is a soap opera about a soap opera, which indulges in the appealing idea that what is happening behind the cameras is more sex, secrets, and scandal that what is happening in front. That is, until the end when, like "Tootsie," the dirty laundry is aired on live television. The focal point of the insanity is the legendary Celeste Talbert (Sally Field), the aging star of "The Sun Also Sets." When we first meet Celeste, accepting her umpteenth acting award, she thanks her co-workers, most of who are sitting there with frozen smiles muttering things that are not nice underneath their collective breaths. Clearly Celeste is a prima donna who needs to have a comeuppance.

The person who wants to be that comeuppance is bombshell Montana Moorehead (Cathy Morairty), who plays Nurse Nan on the show. She is enticing the show's producer, David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) with promises of naked fun to write Celeste's character Maggie out of the show. Towards that end he brings back Dr. Rod Randall, the character played by Maggie's ex-lover Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), despite the fact that his character was written out of the show after being decapitated by a tractor trailer while driving a pink convertible in the Yukon on his way to visit his brother, an ex-con named Frances. Fortunately there was a revolutionary two-day operation.

However, the monkey wrench in everybody's plan is young Lori Craven (Elisabeth Shue), who manages to worm her way onto the show and Celeste's dressing room. Those who actually watch more than television soap operas and were weaned on theatrical efforts along the same line should be thinking about "All About Eve" at this point, but, no, that is too mundane a plot line for this farce and Lori turns out to be the spark that starts a whole new round robin of the aforementioned sex, scandal and secrets.

With a script by Robert Harling ("Steel Magnolias") and Andrew Bergman ("The Freshman"), this 1991 comedy directed by Michael Hoffman ("Restoration") piles on the complications and tries to keep things going fast enough to keep the momentum going before it collapses. Fortunately "Soapdish" saves the best part for last, when it looks like the only thing that will save the day is an emergency brain transplant in a Jamican restaurant. Obviously everybody in the cast is trying to upstage everybody else, and the clear winner is Kevin Kline, who not only can figure out how to use his real voice when preparing for an important conversation but refuses to wear his contact lenses in scenes that require him to read off the teleprompter.

Also in the cast of "Soap Opera" are Whoopi Goldberg as Rose Schwartz, the writer who is Celeste's one friend, Teri Hatcher as actress Ariel Maloney, Gary Marshall as network head Edmund Edwards, and Kathy Najimy as the always perky Tawny Miller. Ultimately this comedy will appeal to those who like "Soap" and "Nurse Betty" more than "All My Children" and "As the World Turns," but there is nothing wrong with that, especially since sometimes this movie is as funny as it thinks it is.

Soapdish is one movie-long spoot of a soap opera in which the actors live as dramatic a personal life as the dramatic lives they play on screen. It is hilarious, well-written and enjoyable, despite the detractors' comments on the Amazon.com editorial. It stars Sally Field,Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr., Cathy Moriarty, and Carrie Fisher. Sally Field plays an aging, award-winning daytime soap star who, at the start of the film, is facing possible replacement as ratings lower. There are of course plots to supplant her, especially by Cathy Moriarty's character, a producer on the show. Her lover, Robert Downey Jr. is a riot. Sally Field's character is that of a bitchy diva and she has genuine fun with the role. This movie may not have been too successful since it's only available on VHS and I don't hear people talking about it today but it is a highly entertaining comedy. In the 90's comedies were genuinely superior than comedies today. They benefited from great scripts, fine casting and greater music. Whoopi Goldberg's character for example is hilarious as Sally Field's hair stylist. Around this time she was doing "Ghost" in another hilarious role as the phony pyschic. The irony of the movie lies in the failed attempts to hinder Sally Field's character's success as an actress in soaps but instead, every aspect of her life becomes the material soaps are made of. Her ex lover (Kevin Kline) is a washed-out actor doing dinner theater and finds a job again in "The Sun Also Sets" (an insidejoke on The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway)He falls for a girl who turns out to be his own daughter with Sally Field's character! The plot twists and turns and has a satisfying ending. Also in the cast is Teri Hatcher, who is now known as Susan from Desperate Housewives and who also played Lois from Lois and Clark. She is doing a terrific job too though her hairdo and looks attest to the fact it was the late 80's early 90's period. A great movie over all.

This is a very funny movie, for it is one of those situations of the real soap opera taking place BEHIND the scenes of the actual soap opera. it's a little bit like the undeservedly ill-fated show 'Sports Night', showing the funny sort of backstage, 'real life' drama happening behind the cameras and all that. The movie also employs a few soap opera -isms into the plot, loads of backstabbing, manipulation, deception, hidden secrets, misunderstandings, betrayel, but all in a very farcical & comedic type of format that works extremely well. Plus it showcases the extraordinary comedic talents of all of the film's stars, including Sally Fields as a sort of neurotic Susan Lucci, Kevin Kline (who is simply extraordinary) Whoopi Goldberg, Cathy Moriarty, Teri Hatcher, Elizabeth Shue, and Robert Downey Jr. check this movie out, you'll love it.

A sopa opera star diva facing career doldrums is challenged by the sudden re-apperance of her ex who is also the father of their daughter. But, wait, the daughter thinks her mother is her aunt and she has a date with her father who doesn't know she is his daughter. Confused? Don't be. This is but the tip of the iceberg in this incredible comedy about the soap opera world. Sally Field is without peer as the hapless diva. Kevin Kline is incredible as the has-been ex. Elizabeth Shue is terrific as the returned daughter (niece?)....Relax, get some popcorn and enjoy. Don't miss a very Murphy-Browneske Garry Marshall as the producer.