Soapdish

Watching Soapdish for the first time tonight I had an ever increasing sense of deja vu. I had seen this before - yet I knew I hadn't. It was all weirdly, strangely familiar but all new too. About half way through the film it clicked. I realised I was watching a Pedro Almodóvar film - made by Americans. It's all there: the frantic over the top relentless pace, the rapid line delivery, the over-the-top emotion and outrageous plot twists played out with the subtlety of a daytime soap. Even the Almodóvar visual trademark of having a strong red element in frame wherever possible is on show. I like Almodóvar's films. I didn't particularly like Soapdish. It lacked the edge that Almodóvar's films have, an edge that skirts, and often tips over into, downright vulgarity. His films are blatantly Soap Operatic but they are played straight. His films have contained all sorts of disturbing characters and situations: heroin-using nuns, people making (quite funny) jokes in the middle of a rape scene, carers having sex with their coma patients... the list goes on. Quite often in his films you find yourself laughing at things, or condoning things, which you KNOW you should find repellent but somehow... there you are... laughing. It's what makes him such a great film maker. At no point was anything even vaguely threatening or vulgar going to happen in Soapdish. It played safe. And strictly for laughs. Then, just to make sure, just in case the audience didn't get it, placed the grotesque soap operatics of the story into the setting of the studios of a daytime soap. Signalled to the audience as loudly as it could that this was not to be taken seriously and the style was deliberate. Corporate film making. They took the veneer of Almadovar's style - even the opening credits are familiar - and applied it wholesale to an acceptable fast-paced Hollywood farce. The real thing is much better.

This movie, and this is just my opinion, was not involving and that was rather disappointing. At one point in my life I happened to have loved soap operas, watched them daily. And so a spoof on them seemed like a great idea and a funny one to boot! I had really looked forward to this movie but did not become involved. Where was the Funniness? I could not find much humor and in addition to the surprising lack of hilarity, it was just so slow moving! it just seemed to meander with nothing much really happening. I'm not sure if I expected to much or what but this movie was not anything like what I thought it would be. Through the whole thing, I was waiting for something to happen and resisting the impulse to say to the screen:hey-make us laugh! It was a letdown for me because being a former soap opera fanatic I was sure I'd like this and because the premise is SO creative and good. But I don't think comedies, of all types of movies should drag. I also I prefer comedies that are constantly funny throughout, and move quickly or at least quicker then this one. I also do know people who love this,(and cannot believe I don't.) I have thought about giving this another chance. I think I was particularly disappointed with this because I was expecting so much. I felt it could have been so good. Anyway maybe I'll try seeing it again sometime but for now I'd say this was disappointing.

The only movie I have ever walked out on. Don't waste your time. This movie belongs down the drain like used bath water. I want my money back.

Soapdish has a few scenes that are generally funny but all in all it falls flat. It actually starts with some good, promising satire, with ridiculously good looking people getting cast as a rabble crowd of homeless people, and scenes about the casting couch. And Kevin Kline playing Death of a Salesman in bad dinner theater in Florida. Genuinely funny stuff. But it very quickly gets lost in a very uninteresting story about failed attempts to derail Sally Fields' character's career (attempts that, despite the hyped up acting, never has any real teeth or even sense of high stakes) and her triangle relationship with her supposed niece and Kevin Kline's character. So much wasted talent here! Kathy Najimy, a brilliant comedic actress, is completely wasted in a throwaway role as a costumer. Even worse with Carrie Fischer! She gets one hilarious scene, making me want to see more of her and her character, and then she basically disappears for the rest of the movie. So disappointed. But the worst for me was the end, which relies on a horrible and very offensive transphobic joke. The best satires are grounded in some version of reality. Part of the fun is recognizing the truth in even the most ridiculous of situations, since the truth itself is often ridiculous. The Soapdish producers seem to have felt that if you just mix in a few jokes with an otherwise uninteresting story, you'll have good satire. Instead they settled for a few cheap laughs. What a waste of a talented cast.

This is one of the best comedy ever ! The writing of this parody of soap is brilliant and the cast, well just look at the names of the cast and you'll understand why it is so great. If you're a Kevin Kline fan, he does (as always) an fantastic performance, and Robert Downey Jr is perfect. If you don't laugh while seen this movie, you don't have any sense of humor.

This movie is about a fictional soap opera. It is very fast and funny. To say anything else would ruin the movie. There are several plots and sub plots in the movie. This movie has ensemble cast with today's hottest stars. They all gives over the top performances. This movie is favorite of mine from the year 1991. Soapdish is perfect for fans of either daytime soap opera /or prime time soap opera!!!If you watch soap go check this movie it's hilarious!!!

Fast paced and funny satire about that original "reality TV", the soap opera. The script by playwright Robert Harling is packed with one liners and ridiculous situations. The best of them is the climax, a live broadcast that quickly deteriorates into bad improv and a brain transplant. Keven Kline's murdering of his lines, due to not wearing his glasses, is hilarious. "Her brain will laterally explore within the next few houses." The brilliant cast is on the same page as Kline. Sally Field, Elizabeth Shue, Cathy Moriarty, Robert Downey Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Garry Marshall, and Kathy Najimy are all perfect. It is a treat to see a cast click like it does in this movie. This is a classic that has somehow slipped through the cracks. P.S. The score by Alan Silvestri is an added bonus. It fits the soap opera with it's flamboyant and melodramatic air.

This has to be, hands down, hats off, one of the most uproarious comedies ever made. Starting with the animated blowing, popping bubbles, the entrance to the Daytime Awards, the usual phony drivel spewed by the stars on the red carpet, the rehearsed and badly acted acceptance speech, the venomous comments uttered by the actor's jealous co-stars and producer, under phony smiles. Now THAT is only in the first few minutes. Then, all hell breaks loose from there and it only gets more frantic and ridiculous. Ridiculous in a good way, no, make that a great way. This was the first time I'd seen the always charming Teri Hatcher. While I may not be a follower of Desperate Housewives, she herself is always watchable - same goes for Lois & Clark. Not a huge follower, but if I run across an episode I'd watch it. Robert Downey, jr., does a great turn as slimy, smarmy, snaky, sycophantic David Seaton Barnes, the producer who'd give his right eye to see Sally Field's Celeste Talbert leave the show, if only to finally get to get it on with Cathy Moriarty's Montana Moorehead. Moriarty absolutely shines in this movie, just as she had everywhere else she's appeared. Here, all she has to do is scream "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU YOU CREEP!" or give one of her anti-Celeste-co-conspirators an evil grin, and she has me rolling in the aisles. Yes, Cathy Moriarty is a very gifted actress, and one hell of a comedienne. Sally Field gratefully departs from the usual 70-MM-sized Lifetime Tragedy of the Week movies, and we're all reminded why she is who she is today, having started off in comedy afraid of nothing. Her ensuing years of drama had hidden her sense of humor, but like a caterpillar in a cocoon, the brilliant comedienne she is had blossomed and it was joyous to see her as hilarious as she was. The thing with dramatic actors and actresses is that you see in such heavy, serious roles, that you associate them with their character and you can't believe it when you see them finally having some fun on screen. How lucky were the producers to land Carrie Fisher, if only for a glorified cameo. She doesn't realize what a presence she bears on screen. She takes a role which, in the hands of a lesser actress, could easily have been forgotten, but she owns the character and it seems as if she wrote it herself. How lucky was Elisabeth Shue to get thrown in the middle of all this! At the time, she wasn't really known for much. Adventures in Babysitting was kind of cute (yes, I was dragged to an evening show for which I had to pay full price), but she didn't hold my attention - - much. But here, she makes the most of her character - star's niece who falls in love with the star's ex-co-star-and-lover who, of course, turns out to be the niece's father, and the star turns out to be the poor girl's mother. I'll stop there - I feel I practically wrote a book about this brilliant screwball comedy, or at least a novela. If you've seen it, then reminisce. If you haven't, you've missed a real classic, but not really. The DVD's are made of a material that'll last for at least 25 years, and this movie is timeless, so what the hell.

Soapdish may go down as one of the single most under-rated movies ever made. A stellar, unselfish cast who understood exactly where the movie was going and the roles they played in it. While everyone hammed it up, there was no one-upmanship. Kline showed wit and great physical comedy, Goldberg and Downey knew how to carry on a funny conversation while someone else was talking, I could just go on. Do not pass this movie by!

The only movie I have ever walked out on. Don't waste your time. This movie belongs down the drain like used bath water. I want my money back.