Good start, but then it gets ruined

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Excellent cast, amazing comic timing, hilarious situations yet humane emotions. Couldn't stop chucking and giggling throughout. I've always seen this movie in bits and pieces. Today, I got the chance to see the complete movie. What a gem! :D I revisited this movie mainly for Downey. Although he is a support character, he holds his own among the other heavyweights in the movie. The plot is simple, an ambitious supporting actress wants to bump off the TV soaps long-time star. She comes up with a conniving plan and takes the help of the show's producer to execute her plan. But, she is in for a surprise when nothing goes as planned. "Soapdish" gives a glimpse of the personal dramas and life of the people in the TV world, and how easily the line between the reel & real can blur. Nothing in this movie is remotely vulgar or obscene. It played safe yet the comedy is highly effective in evoking laughs. Brownie points for the actors to be able to pull this off with élan.

'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.

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.

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.