Review of Soapdish (1991) by Allan C — 10 Dec 2017

A farcical door-slamming comic version of "All About Eve" set in the world of daily soaps instead of the Broadway. What makes this film so fun is the cast playing the cheesy soap opera actors are made up of quite a few respectable Oscar winners and nominees; Sally Field, Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Kline, Cathy Moriarty, Robert Downey Jr.

, and Whoopie Goldberd (not to mention other solid cast members Carrie Fisher, Kathy Najimy, Teri Hatcher, Garry Marshall, Costas Mandylor, and Ben Stein). Field plays an aging soap opera queen who's being nudged out by an up an coming actress, Shue, who makes a splash on the show as a homeless person (because the producer doesn't want unattractive homeless people on the show), turns out to be her daughter! Enter Kevin Kline, an old flame of Field's the producer re-hires onto the show in order to drive Fields out.

There's a ton of other sub plots involving Goldberg's head writer, show producer being manipulated by bully actress Moriarty, and everything culminating in a live Tootsie-like climactic broadcast.

The fast pace dialogue courtesy of Andrew Bergman ("The In-Laws," "The Freshman," "Honeymoon in Vegas"), the the rapid fire delivery by a talented cast, and a breezy score by Alan Silvestri, make this an incredibly fun throwback to screwballs comedies of the 30s the 40s.

If you like this cast or love classic screwball comedies, "Soapdish" is a must see!