User reviews

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!

From the opening credits to and through the final credits ballroom cast celebration, this movie had me laughing and applauding the nonsense and hysterical plot. What a cast of stellar performers in certainly an ensemble approach to this flick. For they all seemed to have fun along the way and shared in the carrying out of a deliciously funny film. With Sally Field [who can do no wrong] Kevin Kline [a master of a line and expression] Robert Downey Jr. [brilliant and who can forget the other side of the coin and his performance as Charlie Chaplin] and Whoopi Goldberg [her one liners are a treasure "I'll say amen"] But let us not forget the supporting cast who stand out on their own, not to be overshadowed by the stars. Cathy Moriarty [very imposing and having a surprise for us all later in the plot working flawlessly along side of Downey] Elisabeth Shue [who can bring honesty along with humor in her performance] Paul Johansson [gorgeous hunk playing the soap hero bringing some very funny moments on his own] the delightful Kathy Najimy [who steals every scene she's in as the costumer who keeps dragging smokes throughout the film] Carrie Fisher [small role of casting agent on the lust for Rob Camilletti, an actor auditioning for a one liner as waiter] and the delectable Terri Hatcher as one of the stars of the soap who spends most of her time pushing up her breasts for the camera and for off camera. Put all of these terrific performers in one film and you have terrific comedy and a fast paced film. Hats off to you all. I have the VHS and never tire from watching this little treasure.

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!!!

'Soapdish' is one of the best, yet least well remembered comedies of the 1990's. The film revolves around the various off-camera drama's that occur behind the scenes of a cheaply produced Daytime Soap Opera. The first of the film's various impressive strengths is it's fantastic A-List cast. 'Soapdish' features some of the greatest actors and actresses of it's era.

The film is superbly led by Sally Field, as the neurotic ageing actress Celeste Talbert (She famously throws a tantrum when put in a costume that makes her look like "Gloria F*CKING Swanson!"). Her supporting cast reads like a who's-who of 90's Movie Greats! Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr, Teri Hatcher, Kevin Kline and Kathy Najimy all elevate the film greatly. Goldberg is predictably excellent, whilst Downey Jr.'s and Hatcher's performances hint at the comedic excellence they would later achieve.

In terms of writing, the film is outstanding. There is a really modern edge to the script, which strays into the wonderfully bizarre on several occasions. There also several visual gags that are quite ahead of their time. In some ways, the film is reminiscent of Mel Brooks at his best and frequently reminded this reviewer of 'High Anxiety' (1977). Much of the film's humour hinges on it's often scathing, but pretty accurate, representations of daytime television and of neurotic and pretentious actors. For example, The extras casting session featuring the exploitative executive played by Carrie Fisher, is both hilarious and honest.

'Soapdish' is, for my money, one of the very best comedies Hollywood produced during the 1990's. It's excellent script and A-Class cast make it a must-see. It's hard not to love this film after it's kept you laughing for 90 minutes.

I don't watch soaps. My grandmother still watches that one with the hour glass. I made fun of them it when I was ten (it was so easy).

But this movie takes parody and spells it a new way. I found the story pretty damn funny. The fashions of the 80's - shoulder pads, sequins, and polyester - just top it off. The huge hair, the high heels, and the histrionics - what a combination.

And all the actors just go to town, chewing up their parts and spitting them out in a big well scripted pile. Sally, Kevin, Elisabeth - wonderful! Whoopi - great! Robert Downey - refreshing to see him back when he had such potential, before the tabloids. And Garry: why did we have to wait so long to see him on film? Leesa Gibbons - hadn't been missing her, but nice to include her as a real life entertainment reporter (and where do you apply for THAT job, anyway?).

Admittedly, I could have done without Sally climbing the drainpipe. Lucy Ricardo did it, how many times?, as has every comedienne from Carol Burnett to I don't know who and I'm so done with it now, I could spit peanuts if I had them. Apparently it's what you do when you're being funny in a tall building in New York. I'm just thankful they didn't pull out the flagpole bit.

But it was cute, it was funny, it had plot twists, it had an after credits ending before that was common, it had clothes worthy of a second glance, it had a great cast and it's got personal memories for me. Really, what more do you need?

Years ago I did follow a soap on TV. So I was curious about this movie, and I was so rewarded for finding it. It's a marvelous spoof of soaps, with jealousies, the usual actors' insecurities, and all sorts of lovely excesses. But more than anything - an amazing cast and an incredible script. How did someone get all those top-notch actors to play in such a silly sort of movie? And how did this little movie get writers to write the perfect lines? I never hear anyone talk about this movie or even admit hearing of it, but it's marvelous and I highly recommend seeing it. Sometimes I'll throw it on while doing housecleaning, and end up sitting on the couch, watching, laughing and thoroughly enjoying the whole wonderful thing. Many congrats to all who made it.

'Soapdish' is one good laugh! An Entertaining Comedy, that ranks amongst the better films from the early 1990's. Its got the wit & the humor, working on its advantage.

'Soapdish' Synopsis: An ambitious TV soap actress connives with her producer to scuttle the career of the show's long-time star, but nothing works as they plan.

'Soapdish' is amusing, rib-tickling & arresting. The characters are absurd, but their journey together is graspingly funny. Robert Harling & Andrew Bergman's Screenplay balances humor & wit, commendably. Michael Hoffman's Direction is perfect. Cinematography is spacious. Editing is decent.

Performance-Wise: Kevin Kline is exceptional, as always. He's the scene-stealer! Sally Field is stupendous. A super act! Elisabeth Shue is extremely cute. Whoopi Goldberg is spunky, while Robert Downey, Jr. is another topper. Cathy Moriarty & Carrie Fisher are adequate.

On the whole, 'Soapdish' works.

This film has some nostalgic appeal as a flashback piece and it's somewhat fun to see the cast perform in earlier times. But the story-line is goofy and whimsical in frivolous way that most films no longer are. It's not a raised art of film-making, it's just sort of campy and silly in a way that I found mostly tedious. Maybe some people can appreciate it as an escape to simpler times or find some other appeal but I mostly just found it chaotic, scattered, and unrelatable.

It really is a shame that films like this never snag Best Picture nominations, because this one is simply a winner. This is by far the most consistently hilarious comedy I have ever seen. Its screenplay and design are impeccable, not to mention the incredible cast. I can quote this movie for hours on end. Watch it.

Very funny comedy from director Michael Hoffman and writer Robert Harling about a group of people whose 'soap opera' lives are more dramatic and interesting than the ones they portray in their daytime TV show, "The Sun Also Sets".

The whole huge cast, including Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Elisabeth Shue, Robert Downey Jnr, Carrie Fisher, Teri Hatcher, Garry Marshall, Kathy Najimy and Cathy Moriarty, play off each other well, producing some very funny moments, while Whoopi Goldberg is delightful. Not of the great script select, however "Soapdish" is all good fun as it sends up that institution of daytime T.V., soap opera!

Friday, October 18, 1991 - Knox District Centre

I can never get enough of this movie Sally Field is just hilarious. Can you imagine how exhausting it must have been for her to do this film I cannot believe she wasn't nominated for anything she shines in this film

I swear you couldn't make this stuff up . . . and yet somebody did. That's "Soapdish", an off-the-rails comedy that features, well, pretty much everyone with a pulse in early '90s Hollywood. It's chock full of talent, cheerfully playing to the cheap seats (as Sally Field engages in one conniption after another; it's a joy).

There's almost something wholesome about the tawdry subject matter; and as dirty as these characters are playing, it somehow ends up being good clean fun.

7/10

It's funny. It's not Arthur Miller or T.S. Elliot, but man this is funny. Kline and Fields are great. (Her toss-off line "God, you are so disGUSting" as she climbs in his window - great! Kline's running into the door after scoping out Teri Hatcher - great too!) Robert Downey Jr. and Kathy Moriarty work together flawlessly - until he finds out who she really is... a soap opera turn if there every was one!

The scene near the end in the chinese dining area had my kids and I rolling on the floor - that scene alone is worth the rental price.

Doesn't solve any world problems or show the seemy underbelly of daytime T.V. (I hope). Just a lot of fun.

Soapdish is a really fun movie for anyone who likes over-the-top dramatic, well, soap operas. As you can tell from the title, it's set during the making of a daytime soap opera. And just as you'd hope, the melodrama emanating from backstage is equal to that which all the stars perform in front of the camera. There's infidelity, backstabbing, family secrets, sex scandals, sabotage, and ridiculous emotional outbursts. But that's the point of soap operas!

Sally Field and Cathy Moriarty, two actresses vying for the top slot, have a long-standing feud. Cathy seduces the show's producer, Robert Downey Jr., and tries to get Sally's character written off the show. When that doesn't work, she tries to get Sally to quit by bringing in her ex-boyfriend as a new cast member, Kevin Kline. Elisabeth Shue also joins the cast, and while at first, the sparks are flying between Kevin and Sally, Elisabeth soon joins in the odd love triangle.

I won't tell you any more of the plot, but it's just as ridiculous and melodramatic as you could ever hope it to be. You'll also see Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Carrie Fisher, and Garry Marshall in the supporting cast. Mix a batch of cocktails, invite your girlfriends over, and get ready for the biggest soap you can watch at night!

I think that this is possibly the funniest movie I have ever seen. Robert Harling's script is near perfect, just check out the "quotes" section; on second thought, just rent the DVD, since it's the delivery that really makes the lines sing.

Sally Field gives a comic, over-the-top performance like you've never seen from her anywhere else, and Kevin Kline is effortlessly hilarious. Robert Downey, Jr. is typically brilliant, and in a very small role, Kathy Najimy is a riot as the beleaguered costumer. I was never much of a fan of Elisabeth Shue, but she's great here as the one *real* person surrounded by a bevy of cartoon characters on the set of "The Sun Also Sets" -- that rumbling you feel beneath you is Hemingway rolling over in his grave. Either that, or he's laughing really hard.

Five stars. Funny, funny, funny.

Though nowhere near as good as TOOTSIE, SOAPDISH is an amusing spoof of the world of daytime drama with a funny story and an impressive all-star cast. Sally Field, who unveils a skill for slapstick comedy that she had shelved for many years, is on target as Celeste, the aging soap diva of THE SUN ALSO SETS, afraid that she is past her prime and constantly complaining about her story lines, co-stars, wardrobe and anything else she can think of. Kevin Kline is charming, as always, as Celeste's ex-husband, who is tracked down at a dinner theater in Florida playing Willy Loman, to come onto the soap to make trouble for Celeste. Robert Downey Jr. steals every scene he is in as one of the producers of the show, who is being cuckolded by another cast member (a wonderfully bitchy Cathy Moriarty)to get Celeste off the show. Whoopi Goldberg plays the show's head writer and Celeste's best friend, who has one very amusing scene at a New Jersey mall where she pretends to recognize Celeste from the soap and fawns all over her, apparently something she and Celeste do from time to time to massage Celeste's delicate ego. Elisabeth Shue also charms as an actress with a secret who joins the show and there are also funny bits from Kathy Najimy, Carrie Fisher, and Teri Hatcher. Despite manic direction and an uneven screenplay, SOAPDISH is still a lot of fun and worth checking out, whether or not you watch soaps.

The reigning diva on the daytime serial "The Sun Also Sets" is conspired against by her co-workers after ratings begin to slip; meanwhile, her life outside the show has turned into a real soap opera when secrets from the past catch up with her. It wouldn't be wise to knock a gregarious piece of fluff such as "Soapdish" too strongly--not only does the film have its share of supporters (late-in-coming, as it turns out), but a bauble like this, with its fake-glitzy surroundings and eager-to-please cast, can be a nostalgic tonic for those pining for the era of the television soap opera. Now a vanishing breed, the once-popular morning-to-afternoon melodrama was the housewife's cure for the game show blues, complete with diseases of the week, hunks without their shirts romancing aging ladies in glamorous gowns, outrageous story lines and 'controversial' topics. "Soapdish" takes all of this into consideration, yet it has tunnel-vision; it isn't sharp enough to foresee the genre's ultimate decline (this is a world where everything can be fixed with a juicy subplot). Sally Field is miscast in the central role; as an actress, she's a trouper--and indefatigable--but she isn't convincing as a harried queen bee (she's been made too vulnerable by the writers, who have her crying too much). Director Michael Hoffman has obviously done his homework on the subject, and yet his treatment may be too heady for this cheap, flashy milieu; Hoffman goes in for 'feelings' with his 'sensitive' edits, but the characters are still cut-outs to us because they haven't been fleshed out in the writing. The material in general is too broad and silly, anyway, to get worked up over, although Whoopi Goldberg has nicely dry comic timing as the head writer of the show and Kathy Najimy manages to make her thankless wardrobe girl role stand out just by playing it nonchalant. ** from ****

The drama of a soap opera on screen and off. Celeste Talbert (Sally Field) is queen of the soaps. Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty) wants to be top dog. She gets the help of David Seton Barnes (Robert Downey Jr) to try and write difficulties for Celeste. They even bring back her old flame Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline) to get under her skin. Only when her niece (Elisabeth Shue) comes on the show, it gets more complicated than even her most hated enemy could hope for.

There is a lot of crazy characters going around in this. Some of them get quite hilarious. Sally Field is going off on this character. She's a lot of fun. The amount of acting talent here is amazing. The story off the screen is even more hilarious.

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.