William Brighenti Albert Einstein said that "Soapdish" was the greatest comedy he ever wrote, and was the inspiration for his e=mc2.Give a great comic script to Kevin Kline, Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, Gary Marshall, Robert Downey, Jr., Kathy Najimy, and Carrie Fisher, and you have a great comedy, a masterpiece written and conceived by Robert Harling.I howled whenever Gary Marshall, playing the producer of the television's soap opera program, met and spoke to his staff about what was needed to make a soap opera successful: his tennis pal called the show "The Sun Also Sucks"; he disliked depressing and expensive but liked peppy and cheap.Kline is superb in his comic mannerisms; and the interaction of Field and Goldberg is perfection.It is truly one of the best comedies of the 1990s.

oprlvr33 There isn't an area of this gem that isn't exciting or brilliant.Terrific cast, and wonderful 'sub plot' (as Elisabeth Shue puts it). Everyone is at their comical best, and Field and Kline beautifully play off each other as the former star-crossed screen/off-screen lovers, turned passion-rivals. Cathy Moriarty is deliciously *beep* as Montana/Myron, and this is by far probably Robert Downey Jr's greatest comic performance in a role. For any Daytime (and former) fan, this movie is a must; it tastefully highlights and mocks every bit of gossip, raw, and glamor behind the scenes. **Of course I'm an 'ego-maniac'... I've got "America's Sweetheart" climbing up my drainpipe!!!**

junk-monkey 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.

Trey Mercartne 'Soapdish' is one of the best, yet least well remembered comedies of the 1990's. The film revolves around the various off-camera drama's that occur behind the scenes of a cheaply produced Daytime Soap Opera. The first of the film's various impressive strengths is it's fantastic A-List cast. 'Soapdish' features some of the greatest actors and actresses of it's era.The film is superbly led by Sally Field, as the neurotic ageing actress Celeste Talbert (She famously throws a tantrum when put in a costume that makes her look like "Gloria F*CKING Swanson!"). Her supporting cast reads like a who's-who of 90's Movie Greats! Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr, Teri Hatcher, Kevin Kline and Kathy Najimy all elevate the film greatly. Goldberg is predictably excellent, whilst Downey Jr.'s and Hatcher's performances hint at the comedic excellence they would later achieve.In terms of writing, the film is outstanding. There is a really modern edge to the script, which strays into the wonderfully bizarre on several occasions. There also several visual gags that are quite ahead of their time. In some ways, the film is reminiscent of Mel Brooks at his best and frequently reminded this reviewer of 'High Anxiety' (1977). Much of the film's humour hinges on it's often scathing, but pretty accurate, representations of daytime television and of neurotic and pretentious actors. For example, The extras casting session featuring the exploitative executive played by Carrie Fisher, is both hilarious and honest.'Soapdish' is, for my money, one of the very best comedies Hollywood produced during the 1990's. It's excellent script and A-Class cast make it a must-see. It's hard not to love this film after it's kept you laughing for 90 minutes.