Soapdish (A or 3.5/4 stars)
'Soapdish' (directed by Michael Hoffman) takes place on & backstage at a long-running, but declining daytime soap called 'The Sun Also Sets'. Sally Field stars as America's Sweetheart Celeste Talbert, the beloved/famous long-running heroine of daytime TV, who has just won another Emmy for playing 'Maggie'. Celeste, unpopular on set, is now the victim of a conspiracy involving blonde bombshell cast mate, Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), who wants to advance her own soap career & promises the show's always-out-for-himself producer, David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) sex if he will write Celeste out of her starring role. Sure, David wants sex, but he also wants high ratings; so sabotaging Celeste with Montana sounds about right.
Celeste's interests are defended by her longtime head writer, Rose (Whoopi Goldberg), who can't believe that David wants to resurrect a character who was decapitated in an episode 20 yrs. ago. Said character was played by Celeste's long-ago flame, Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), who is now reduced to appearing in 'Death of a Salesman' in an antiquated Florida dinner theater. David & Montana hope that Jeffrey's return will send Celeste into a tailspin & quit (as she & Jeffrey have a UGLY past). And yet, not only does Celeste have to deal with the plotting against her, but she also must contend with the return of her nice, Lori (Elisabeth Shue); who's left college, hired by David, & has joined the soap opera as a homeless deaf mute {see, isn't this insane? Like a real soap opera? Haha}.
Mayhem ensues as David tries - unwittingly - to bed Montana. Montana venomously schemes to uproot Celeste. The Big Boss (Gary Marshall) will do 'anything' for higher ratings. Head writer Rose tries to settle down her neurotic pal Celeste, all the while, trying desperately to write for a man who's been decapitated for 20 years. The casting director (Carrie Fischer) is hiring talentless males for roles; just so she can sleep with them. Jeffrey comes back to the show in a blaze of glory. Lori starts falling for Aunt Celeste's old flame, Jeffrey. Celeste starts smoking & berating her new costume designer (Kathy Najimy) due to all the stress in her life. Romantic entanglements run wild. Scandal rocks the show. And voila ... the ratings go higher as the soap stars' real life drama translates over into their show; culminating in a special live broadcast episode, where viewers out in TV land will discover that life can be stranger than fiction.
The farcical tongue-in-cheek/behind-the-scenes look at soap stars might seem silly on paper and, if directed/written poorly, the result would be disastrous. But thanks to some great directing/writing & a hysterical ensemble cast, 'Soapdish' works in spades. When you got intertwining plotlines including desperate producers, homeless Jamaicans, deaf mutes, adultery, brain transplants, buxom nurses (Teri Hatcher), long-lost family members, incest, sex-change surgery ... you know you're in for quite the ride. ALL of the characters are shameless, lustful, greedy, vain, & jealous. All of their connections grow increasingly strange as the film proceeds. And it is all ludicrously, side-splittingly funny.
The manic energy that Sally Field gives Celeste/Maggie as her life is unraveling is infectious. In an early scene, she comes home to greet her boyfriend (who's left her), & she pours bleach into every one of his plants, while weeping & swigging on a bottle of vodka. THAT is awesome; and gives us an early clue as to her neuroticism. Field has great scenes (in a mall, wanting to sign autographs to boost her waning confidence). But her best is a great climactic reveal scene including Kevin Kline & Elisabeth Shue -- it's one of the funniest sequences in recent film history. Celeste gets overwhelmed & LOSES it; varying from sadness, to fury, to devastation, to bewilderment, & back. And to quote David Barnes (Downey Jr.), "This is fu*%ing great!"
Kevin Kline is superb as Jeffrey; an actor reduced to shouting his lines at senile patrons in dinner theater acts. Jeffrey is pathetic, but chugs along in Florida 'cause he loves acting so much. And I loved him reading the Teleprompter without glasses in the live broadcast scene. Kline's batsh*t crazy humor goes a long way, here. Whoopi Goldberg gets a few zingers to spout. i.e., "How do you expect me to write for a guy that doesn't have a head!" RD Jr. is great as the young producer who wants sex with Montana almost as much as impressing the studio heads. He's so vicious, & yet, thanks to the charismatic portrayal, we love him.
And Cathy Moriarty (so good in Raging Bull) steals the show as the big scary blonde who is oblivious to her own foreboding power, & plots/screeches her way into David's good graces. There is a big reveal with her character near the end that ties up some dangling plot strands ... and it is awesome. The main plot is confounding, subplots are abounding, & there are a myriad of neurotic characters to keep track of. But, oh, is it a riot watching it ALL unfold. You don't have to love soap operas to appreciate the spoofing of it. And I just haven't laughed this much at a movie in a long, long time.
Celeste's interests are defended by her longtime head writer, Rose (Whoopi Goldberg), who can't believe that David wants to resurrect a character who was decapitated in an episode 20 yrs. ago. Said character was played by Celeste's long-ago flame, Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), who is now reduced to appearing in 'Death of a Salesman' in an antiquated Florida dinner theater. David & Montana hope that Jeffrey's return will send Celeste into a tailspin & quit (as she & Jeffrey have a UGLY past). And yet, not only does Celeste have to deal with the plotting against her, but she also must contend with the return of her nice, Lori (Elisabeth Shue); who's left college, hired by David, & has joined the soap opera as a homeless deaf mute {see, isn't this insane? Like a real soap opera? Haha}.
Mayhem ensues as David tries - unwittingly - to bed Montana. Montana venomously schemes to uproot Celeste. The Big Boss (Gary Marshall) will do 'anything' for higher ratings. Head writer Rose tries to settle down her neurotic pal Celeste, all the while, trying desperately to write for a man who's been decapitated for 20 years. The casting director (Carrie Fischer) is hiring talentless males for roles; just so she can sleep with them. Jeffrey comes back to the show in a blaze of glory. Lori starts falling for Aunt Celeste's old flame, Jeffrey. Celeste starts smoking & berating her new costume designer (Kathy Najimy) due to all the stress in her life. Romantic entanglements run wild. Scandal rocks the show. And voila ... the ratings go higher as the soap stars' real life drama translates over into their show; culminating in a special live broadcast episode, where viewers out in TV land will discover that life can be stranger than fiction.
The farcical tongue-in-cheek/behind-the-scenes look at soap stars might seem silly on paper and, if directed/written poorly, the result would be disastrous. But thanks to some great directing/writing & a hysterical ensemble cast, 'Soapdish' works in spades. When you got intertwining plotlines including desperate producers, homeless Jamaicans, deaf mutes, adultery, brain transplants, buxom nurses (Teri Hatcher), long-lost family members, incest, sex-change surgery ... you know you're in for quite the ride. ALL of the characters are shameless, lustful, greedy, vain, & jealous. All of their connections grow increasingly strange as the film proceeds. And it is all ludicrously, side-splittingly funny.
The manic energy that Sally Field gives Celeste/Maggie as her life is unraveling is infectious. In an early scene, she comes home to greet her boyfriend (who's left her), & she pours bleach into every one of his plants, while weeping & swigging on a bottle of vodka. THAT is awesome; and gives us an early clue as to her neuroticism. Field has great scenes (in a mall, wanting to sign autographs to boost her waning confidence). But her best is a great climactic reveal scene including Kevin Kline & Elisabeth Shue -- it's one of the funniest sequences in recent film history. Celeste gets overwhelmed & LOSES it; varying from sadness, to fury, to devastation, to bewilderment, & back. And to quote David Barnes (Downey Jr.), "This is fu*%ing great!"
Kevin Kline is superb as Jeffrey; an actor reduced to shouting his lines at senile patrons in dinner theater acts. Jeffrey is pathetic, but chugs along in Florida 'cause he loves acting so much. And I loved him reading the Teleprompter without glasses in the live broadcast scene. Kline's batsh*t crazy humor goes a long way, here. Whoopi Goldberg gets a few zingers to spout. i.e., "How do you expect me to write for a guy that doesn't have a head!" RD Jr. is great as the young producer who wants sex with Montana almost as much as impressing the studio heads. He's so vicious, & yet, thanks to the charismatic portrayal, we love him.
And Cathy Moriarty (so good in Raging Bull) steals the show as the big scary blonde who is oblivious to her own foreboding power, & plots/screeches her way into David's good graces. There is a big reveal with her character near the end that ties up some dangling plot strands ... and it is awesome. The main plot is confounding, subplots are abounding, & there are a myriad of neurotic characters to keep track of. But, oh, is it a riot watching it ALL unfold. You don't have to love soap operas to appreciate the spoofing of it. And I just haven't laughed this much at a movie in a long, long time.