Isn't She Great

Great oneliners by Paul Rudnick and a great turn by Stockard Channing and the always funny and fantastic Bette make this an enjoyable movie. But it doesn't really hold up to much scrutiny. And when is Hollywood going to stop using talented, classically trained Hispanic actresses to play over the top, stereotyped cleaning women?

I've caught "Isn't She Great" several times now (It seems to be eternally running on the movie channels).

This was a monster flop when it came out, barely released, but it does a fine job of capturing the era.

The main attraction of this film is the acting of the leads. Both Nathan Lane and Bette Midler can come off incredibly stagy on film, but their style works well with these characters. Jackie Suzanne was larger than life. They both manage to bring a true sense of sweetness to their roles.

Particular note must be made of David Hyde Pierce as her editor. This actor fits very well in this era. Also, John Cleese is a hoot as the publisher. Wish there were more of him in the movie.

Give this one a chance. A period piece from a currently unhip period.

In my opinion, this movie was just "ok". There was something about the acting that just wasn't right. I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps it was the roles that Midler and Lane played. They seemed very superficial. I wasn't convinced that they were the characters. I did like the actor from "Frasier". Although it was not a total "bomb", I would not watch this movie again.

A good way to gauge the end results of this film disaster would be to temporarily resurrect the personage of Jacqueline Susann to get her reaction. I think she would have laughed it off the screen, but not amused laughter: aching, bitter, cynical laughter. I don't see it as a camp film ("Valley of the Dolls" was a camp film); this is a pure, unadulterated error in judgment by many talented people with honorable intentions. The picture looks good and has the nice addition of Burt Bacharach's music score (with the occasional Dionne Warwick vocal--natch), but it is unbearably miscast. When was the last time you can remember Bette Midler failing to ignite on screen (her TV sitcom not accepted)? Bette strains for a low-key effect in the serious moments, but it's just not in her to be pensive; her raucous scenes also derail, and this is due in part to poor direction, poor editing choices, and also poor judgment from Midler, who lets herself be seen on-camera struggling (a struggling comedienne is about as funny as a drowning one--here she does both). A sequence in the film that has hubby-to-be Irving Mansfield following Jackie into a NYC lake is both outrageous and deadening. The factually-incorrect script aside, "Isn't She Great" (no question mark?) is quite simply a beleaguered movie: vapid, colorless, unfocused, and out-of-touch. Susann might've asked what her 'cut' was and then forgot the entire thing. *1/2 from ****

I can't claim to be a fan of Bette Midler, and I bought this DVD solely because of David Hyde Pierce being in it. So I didn't have too high expectations for it. But the movie actually turned out to be quite alright.

The story is about Jacqueline (played by Bette Midler) whose acting career is at a slump when she marries Irving (played by Nathan Lane) and her luck is about to change as he persists to push her forward to achieve more.

What makes the movie good is the combination of good cast, the acting and the storyline. It is a nice warm story that does have some really good moments. And I am glad that there was more focus on the storytelling and the characters than it was on having Bette Midler perform various songs, show tunes and dances.

Now, I said that I bought this movie simply because of David Hyde Pierce, and he delivered the goods. His character was fun and he performed with such elegance and grace. Just a shame that his role wasn't a bigger part in the movie. David Hyde Pierce is just a charming guy and has some impressive on-screen magnetism.

I think that fans of Bette Midler will enjoy this movie tremendously and might actually say "isn't she great" while watching it.

"Isn't She Great", however, is not the type of movie that really warrants more than a single viewing. In my opinion, it just doesn't have the contents to manage more than a single viewing from the audience. But again, if you are a Bette Midler fan, who knows, it might just be able to do so.