Soapdish **** (1991, Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr, Whoopi Goldberg, Cathy Moriarty, Elisabeth Shue) – Classic Movie Review 8292

Sally Field and Kevin Kline are hilarious as the warring TV soap acting couple Celeste Talbert and Jeffrey Anderson in director Michael Hoffman’s solidly funny, hectic-paced 1991 farce Soapdish.

Field relishes letting her hair down in a very different part for her – the silly, selfish, ageing telly star, queen of the soaps for more than two decades, who cannot keep everything in her control any more. Kline again shows his skill with over-the-top performances as the has-been actor drafted back onto Field’s TV show to rescue the ratings and save her from being axed. Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty) plots to force her to leave.

Robert Downey Jr and Cathy Moriarty in Soapdish (1991),

Robert Harling (story and screenplay) and Andrew Bergman (screenplay)’s fevered screenplay lacks a final coat of gloss that would have made it top class, leaving sidelined Robert Downey Jr, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Shue often wrong footed. But this is still addictive modern-day screwball comedy, frothing with oodles of wackiness, high spirits and spot-on parodies of American daytime shows.

Also in the cast are Carrie Fisher, Garry Marshall, Teri Hatcher, Paul Johansson, Stephen Nichols, John Tesh, Costas Mandylor, Tim Choate and Kathy Najimy.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8292

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