Review of Soapdish (1991) by Fong K — 19 Feb 2017

I've honestly never understood the appeal of soap operas. At least the ways Americans do them, where they literally go on for fucking DECADES, with a revolving cast of characters. Repeating the same preposterous stories with only minor variations.

Terrible overacting. I'm more familiar with Mexican soap operas. Trust me, they're just as bad, but, at the very least, their soap operas end up going for several months, episodes air five days a week.

Or South Korean soap operas that only go one season which lasts 20 or so episodes. I think that's the best method, even though their style features a lot of melodrama, you have to come up with new stories every year.

They may rely on some of the same storytelling tropes, but they still have to come up with new characters and situations to put them in. The American method is outdated and counterproductive. But the fact that the American soap operas being the way they are is what gives this movie its material to completely riff on the genre.

Let's make no bones about it, this movie is in no way respectful to daytime soaps. It tears them a new one, quite frankly. Mocking them any chance they get. Whether it's the ridiculous stories, or the stars' self-inflated egos, to the conniving and undercutting of other stars in order to get a better spot on the show.

So, in reality, hardcore soap fans should not ever, EVER watch this movie. Unless they have a sense of humor about some of the sillier aspects of their favored form of entertainment. But I think the movie does quite with focusing on the madness surrounding the soap, the behind-the-scenes machinations.

This may not have been the best farce I've ever seen, but it's a pretty damn good one. But I'm also a little bit on the fence as to whether this is a really good 'good movie' or a really good movie.

And I realize that that might not make sense to a lot of people, but it does to me. I just mean a movie that's good, but it's better than most every good movie you've ever seen. That's the easiest way I can explain it.

Because, if I'm being honest, there are instances where this film is on fire when it comes to the satire. But I don't feel that it was consistently on fire to the point where I thought the film turned a corner.

The movie really hits its stride once Jeffrey Anderson returns to the show he was forced out of 20 years ago by Celeste, the star. The movie is never bad prior to that point, as I do think it gets across how manic it must be to get one of the episodes of the show made what with all of the egos at play.

Obviously, the film is gonna be prone to exaggeration, but I don't believe that writing and producing, not to mention dealing with actors and TV execs, daytime soap is easy or, quite frankly, enjoyable.

Looks like it's more stress than it's worth. Then again, you could say that for any scripted television series, but I'm sure the problems are magnified when you air five days a week for decades on end.

The film does capture some of that stress though, as I mentioned, in an exaggerated and infinitely more entertaining fashion. But, again, I just don't think the movie has the consistency it needed to turn it from a good movie to a really good one.

The performances are great, though. Pretty much everyone in the cast kills it. I can't really single anyone out for praise because they're all great. So, at the very least, even if you don't end up liking the movie, you get to see some really talented actors cut loose and just have fun with the silliness of their roles and the overall narrative.

Yes, I had my issues with this movie, and I've made them obvious, but I just had a lot of fun watching this even in spite of that. Of course, I'm not gonna ignore the problems under the hood just because I had fun watching it.

I'm gonna point them out and say that, even with that, this is still a good movie and one I would easily recommend if you ever get the chance to see it.