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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 4074
Released: December 11, 2001 |
| Our Price: $6.41 |
| Used Price: $7.42 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Though this movie did decent box-office business, it was never as funny as it should have been or as clever as it thought it was. The film is set behind the scenes at The Sun Also Sets, a soap opera starring Sally Field that is suffering a ratings slump. To lure the audience back, the producers resurrect a dead character, played by Kevin Kline, with whom Field was once a lover of but is now at odds (and helped exile to dinner theater, where he is first glimpsed playing Willy Loman). Written by Andrew Bergman and Robert Harling, the script has its funny moments but never manages to string them together, despite a cast that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr., Cathy Moriarty, and Carrie Fisher. --Marshall Fine
Soapdish Reviews:
Thumbs Down 
2008-09-03 - I like the idea of this movie more than the movie itself. The idea here is sort of soap opera within a soap opera parody. The problem is that it's a one joke movie and once you get the joke - that the personal lives of cast and crew of a soap opera began to parallel the characters they play on television - the joke is then repeated endlessly until it is no longer funny. We are supposed to find it amusing to hear the annoying cast and crew of the soap lie, cheat and yell and scream at each other to the point where it's nauseating. Sally Fields overacts in her role as over the hill actress, Celeste Talbert, whose on screen characters are known for being tragedy queens, when her real live isn't much better. Celeste recalls having a daughter from 20 years earlier by an actor who was written off the show and out of her life at that time as well. His character is resurrected, (literally) on the show. He re-enters her life and after a while it's hard to tell where the characters end on screen and where the off screen lives of these people take over. It's also hard to care. I realize that the idea was to parody the ridiculous story lines of real life soaps, but an hour and a half of this is too much for anybody to have to sit through. The cast and crew yelling and screaming at each other both on and off the screen is more annoying than funny. The movie is just not funny and even though it has it's moments, Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg and the other big name cast are wasted here as this could have been done better and funnier by the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live. Thumbs down for me.
A Must Watch 
2008-06-24 - Great romantic Comedy. Great plot, a little dark at times, which you'll love. What a cast! Really, you need to see this flick!
Plain fun 
2008-04-12 - When this movie came out I was younger than 10. But I remember watching it every single time they had it on TBS or TNT. This movie is, plainly put, a lot of fun. Very funny interpretations and a hell of a cast.
A film for soap opera buffs featuring actors playing actors
2008-02-27 - This 1991 release features actors playing actors and is ideal for soap opera buffs. It's like what Michael J. Fox did in THE HARD WAY,what Ted Danson did in THREE MEN AND A BABY and THREE MEN AND A LITTLE LADY and what Richard Dreyfuss did in MOON OVER PARADOR. Anyway,actress Celeste Talbert(Sally Field) wins an Emmy for her portrayal on the (fictitious) daytime serial The Sun Also Sets. She returns home only to be met with great sadness. She learned via message on her answering machine that her married-but-separated boyfriend has suddenly left her and moved out of the home that the pair shared. Adam,the boyfriend,reunited with his wife and their kids. Celeste goes ballistic and she,probably a former smoker,begins the habit again. Celeste is so upset that she has Tawny Miller(Whoopi Goldberg),a friend of hers who's one of the serial's writers,write her out for a while saying Celeste's character Maggie went abroad to study. Surprisingly,an aspiring actress named Lori Craven(Elisabeth Shue) comes to New York looking for work. Lori was happy to have reunited with her aunt Celeste. OK now,here's another actor playing an actor:Kevin Kline himself is Jeffrey Anderson whose genres are dayime serials and dinner theaters. Jeffrey,at various points,is romantically involved with a number of women,including Celeste and Lori. Jeffrey commits an act that makes headlines,angering many,including Lori and Celeste. Differences are patched and the two woman work beautfully with Jeffrey and Lori herself wins her first Emmy!
Wonderful! Funny!
2008-02-08 - If you grew up watching soap operas or had to watch them for a living as I did (yes, seriously) you will LOVE THIS MOVIE! Super performances by all, especially Cathy Moriarty. Even my husband loves this flick! Highly recommended!
