Diagonaldi Very well executed

Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

moonspinner55 The reigning diva on the daytime serial "The Sun Also Sets" is conspired against by her co-workers after ratings begin to slip; meanwhile, her life outside the show has turned into a real soap opera when secrets from the past catch up with her. It wouldn't be wise to knock a gregarious piece of fluff such as "Soapdish" too strongly--not only does the film have its share of supporters (late-in-coming, as it turns out), but a bauble like this, with its fake-glitzy surroundings and eager-to-please cast, can be a nostalgic tonic for those pining for the era of the television soap opera. Now a vanishing breed, the once-popular morning-to-afternoon melodrama was the housewife's cure for the game show blues, complete with diseases of the week, hunks without their shirts romancing aging ladies in glamorous gowns, outrageous story lines and 'controversial' topics. "Soapdish" takes all of this into consideration, yet it has tunnel-vision; it isn't sharp enough to foresee the genre's ultimate decline (this is a world where everything can be fixed with a juicy subplot). Sally Field is miscast in the central role; as an actress, she's a trouper--and indefatigable--but she isn't convincing as a harried queen bee (she's been made too vulnerable by the writers, who have her crying too much). Director Michael Hoffman has obviously done his homework on the subject, and yet his treatment may be too heady for this cheap, flashy milieu; Hoffman goes in for 'feelings' with his 'sensitive' edits, but the characters are still cut-outs to us because they haven't been fleshed out in the writing. The material in general is too broad and silly, anyway, to get worked up over, although Whoopi Goldberg has nicely dry comic timing as the head writer of the show and Kathy Najimy manages to make her thankless wardrobe girl role stand out just by playing it nonchalant. ** from ****

Desertman84 Soapdish is a comedy film that tells a backstage story of the cast and crew of a popular fictional television soap opera. It stars Sally Field as an aging soap star, together with Kevin Kline, Robert Downey, Jr., Elisabeth Shue, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Cathy Moriarty, Garry Marshall, Kathy Najimy, and Carrie Fisher. It was directed by Michael Hoffman from a screenplay written by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman.In the comedic Soapdish,the behind-the-scenes lives of several soap opera actors are just as melodramatic as those of their television counterparts. Sally Field stars as Celeste Talbert, the star of a declining TV show. To make matters worse, Talbert's career is thrown into turmoil when her rival, Montana Moorehead, tries to persuade producer David Barnes to write Talbert off the show. Smitten by Moorehead, Barnes comes up with a scheme to get Talbert off the show by hiring her niece Lori and then Jeffrey, an old flame and cast member who was written out of the show 20 years prior. Soon, mayhem rules on the set as the cast and crew tangle, culminating in a special episode.The movie was surprisingly fun and enjoyable.It is pure joy, a lemon- fresh spoof of daytime drama that does the dishing and may even soften your hands.It was a funny and sharply-written film.But inspite of the talented ensemble cast and talent behind the film,it turned out just to be an entertaining film that would serve a guilty pleasure for a weekend night.

gelman@attglobal.net Every aspect of this film is exaggerated but Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg and Matthew Broderick perform delightfully and Elizabeth Shue is wonderful as (well, I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone who hasn't seen the film by explaining her role).Is the story credible? No. Are the characters believable? No. Is the script especially good? No. Is the outcome even remotely worthy of suspended belief? No, no, no.But Kline, Goldberg and Broderick are major talents, and this may be Sally Field's best film performance ever.Leave your critical instincts in a lower drawer and enjoy.

araceliearambula When I was a kid of 8, I always watched movies and television that i wasn't supposed to, and this was one of them. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, and it has to be the funniest movie I have ever seen in my life, the acting is excellent, they Don't Make Comedies Like This Anymore these days (movies that are ACTUALLY funny and make you laugh without resorting to excrement or some type of vomit-inducing body fluid as in those retarded Judd Apatow movies starring unfunny non-actors like Seth Rogen, barf).This movie is a classic with actors who can actually act, and deserve all the accolades.