Soapdish | | Cast : | Sally Field, Kevin Kline | | Director : | Michael Hoffman | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | May 31, 1991 | | DVD Released Date : | December 11, 2001 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Classic Comedy | Content
 | I love Sally Field, I love Whoopie Goldburg and the two were dynamic in this movie also Starring Robert Downey Jr, another underrated actor.
I'm not a soap opera fan, but I was partial to watching All My Children for a few years, so watching a movie that made jest of the daytime soap opera phenomenon was refreshing.
It's a wonderful light comedy, great to watch on any day! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 05, 2005 | | Summary | Very funny | Content
| 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. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 17, 2005 | | Summary | new classic | Content
| Never mind the amount of famous talent in this movie...the plot and dialogue ran off with this movie. The fact that greats such as Sally, Whoopi, Kline, Hatcher, Najimy, and countless others were in this movie only adds to its brilliance.
There aren't really any extras to this dvd. Just language and subtitles. No, no off-camera antics as one might expect.
I think you can consider this a "new classic," and everyone should add it to their collection. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 31, 2005 | | Summary | Lather Up For Laughs | Content
| Although it has its fans for sure, I have always thought that the merits of the comedy Soapdish, still aren't as appreciated by as many as they should be. This hilarious send up of the daytime drama boasts a great cast and frenetic pace that will keep you laughing. Jealousy and intrigue, on and off the set of a popular fictious daytime soap opera is the backdrop for this great farce.
Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) is the neurotic diva of "The Sun Also Sets," but her popularity with the show's fans does not extend to her relationships with her envious co-stars. Sultry Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty) has set her eyes on the soap's top spot, and she even offers to sleep with the show's nervous young producer, David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.), if he'll have Celeste written off the program. In a moment of inspiration, the lovesick executive decides to bring Talbert's hated ex-lover, Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), back onto the series, with the hope of driving the fragile star to an early retirement. The fact that Anderson's character was decapitated in an earlier episode is seen as a difficult, but not insurmountable, obstacle.
Directed by Michael Hoffman, who does a super job as the film's ringleader, is aided further by those around him. Field, as Celeste, is perfect a diva, while Kline goofs it up in fine fashion, much as he's countless times before. The supporting players also include Elisabeth Shue, Whoopi Goldberg, her Sister Act pal Kathy Najimy, real life tv producer Garry Marshall, and future Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher. Each one providing a good amount of yucks in their own right. Writers Andrew Bergman and Robert Harling make sure the jokes are relatable to everyone--not just Soap fans. The ending comes rapid fire will leave you in stiches.
The DVD loses points for its bonus material. But this is Paramount, so it's not a surpise that the extras are lacking. A brief four-minute featurette is here, but all it is really is just extended commercial for the film, rather than anything substantial. The original theatrical trailer tops off the disc. A commentary may have been a better way to go.
Soapdish is a farce that's a lot of fun. Recommended
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| Rating | | | Date | June 16, 2004 | | Summary | What if the real soap opera was behind the cameras? | Content
| "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. |
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