# Soapdish (1991)

### reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

    Soapdish (PG-13) ***
    Starring Sally Field, Elisabeth Shue
    Directed by Michael Hoffman
    Year Released: 1991
    A Review by Frankie Paiva

Daytime soap operas are always fun to watch because they easily can be made fun of. Endless plot twists and script changes have to be made every single day on the set of these shows which sometimes last over thirty or forty years. This is the setting for the film Soapdish, sort of a soap opera within a soap opera. It’s the story of the fictional soap opera The Sun Also Sets, and what goes on behind the scenes when someone tries to sabotage the show. The wild of the zany antics of the characters may be a little unbelievable, but it’s look at the television and daytime programming industry is not.

Celeste Talbert (Field) plays Maggie, the female lead on a long-running popular soap opera called The Sun Also Sets. The night that she wins the Daytime Emmy, her husband leaves her for his former wife. This sends Celeste into a breakdown and she becomes increasingly stressed and ecstatic. Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty who steals the show) is an evil, jealous bitch who wants to be queen of the soaps, but she can’t because Celeste is standing in her way. She seduces the show’s producer named David (Robert Downey Jr.) into cutting her out of the show. Determined to get his hands on her David hires a man who was beheaded years ago on the show that Celeste absolutely hated. Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline, great as always) was the lead in Death of a Salesman at a Florida dinner theater for the elderly. Despite her bitter hate for him, Celeste soon finds herself utterly attracted to the man she had written off the show.

As the plot on the soap opera unfolds, so does the real life soap opera. Balloon deliverer Lori Craven (Shue) is cast as a mute homeless girl who turns out to be Maggie’s daughter but also seems to have some sort of real life bond with the actress. From there the plot twists and turns until reaching its final conclusion that the whole television world will be watching. True identities are revealed, dark secrets emerge, and love conquers all. It’s just like your regular old daytime soap opera.

Everyone here seems to be playing it over the top and they do it remarkably well. Sally Field is great as the aging soap actress who’s looking for someone to love her. The rest of the supporting cast is also great with Kevin Kline and Robert Downey Jr. sparkling the brightest. There are several scenes in this movie that I liked. My favorite is probably when the show’s writer (Whoopi Goldberg being serious, yes, you read me correctly, being serious) stages a fake celebrity sighting in the mall. Many lines are very funny and everyone plays well off of each other’s characters. Garry Marshall also makes an appearance as a TV executive who is drawn to what’s happening on the television show. This is a great film that shows us what might really happen on the set of a soap. There are some minor problems though. The film is too long (even at 97 minutes), and there always seems to be a bit too much going on for us to be able to grasp it all in one sitting. They also never mention the fact that any other soap operas might also be competition for ratings. A great rental, the fun Soapdish gets *** stars.

The Young-Uns: There is some brief language as well as some sensuality. Good Age: 11 & Up

A Review by Frankie Paiva The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com Visit my website at http://homestead.com/teenagemoviecritic/mainpage.html

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