Pluskylang Great Film overall

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Mr-Fusion I swear you couldn't make this stuff up . . . and yet somebody did. That's "Soapdish", an off-the-rails comedy that features, well, pretty much everyone with a pulse in early '90s Hollywood. It's chock full of talent, cheerfully playing to the cheap seats (as Sally Field engages in one conniption after another; it's a joy). There's almost something wholesome about the tawdry subject matter; and as dirty as these characters are playing, it somehow ends up being good clean fun. 7/10

Predrag This often overlooked, brilliant comedy is full of stars: Robert Downey Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Kline, Elizabeth Shue, Sally Field, Kathy Moriarty and more. "Soap Dish" is a very funny farce on the Soap Opera business, focusing on the dramas that often occur behind the cameras as well as making fun of the genre itself in front of the camera. The dialogue is beautifully on target with "soap talk", and the characters created by these talented stars are at the same time over-the-top and realistic (realistic in that Soap Opera sense of reality). "Soapdish" works on so many frequencies simultaneously that you can watch it over and over and find some new kink to laugh at every time (not to mention bits you come to treasure). It's vulgarity is only surpassed by its sophistication.What I found most interesting was that despite several plots by some of the characters to bring down the lead actress (played by Sally Fields' character) because she had won so many awards and remained a fan favorite, their plots always backfired and if anything increased her popularity and rating, which gave me a lot of satisfaction, because I don't think that anyone should ascend or shine by pulling others down. What will be will be, you just have to keep working hard without harming others in the process and your time will come. You will love the plotting and the scheming and the twisting of the plot. It is hilarious and funny. Great comedy!Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

namashi_1 'Soapdish' is one good laugh! An Entertaining Comedy, that ranks amongst the better films from the early 1990's. Its got the wit & the humor, working on its advantage.'Soapdish' Synopsis: An ambitious TV soap actress connives with her producer to scuttle the career of the show's long-time star, but nothing works as they plan.'Soapdish' is amusing, rib-tickling & arresting. The characters are absurd, but their journey together is graspingly funny. Robert Harling & Andrew Bergman's Screenplay balances humor & wit, commendably. Michael Hoffman's Direction is perfect. Cinematography is spacious. Editing is decent. Performance-Wise: Kevin Kline is exceptional, as always. He's the scene-stealer! Sally Field is stupendous. A super act! Elisabeth Shue is extremely cute. Whoopi Goldberg is spunky, while Robert Downey, Jr. is another topper. Cathy Moriarty & Carrie Fisher are adequate. On the whole, 'Soapdish' works.

mark.waltz As a student of daytime soap history, I went into this with great anticipation, and did not come out unhappy with the results. Sally Field is Celeste Talbert, a daytime diva of Susan Lucci proportions that actually has an Emmy (or four) and comes off closer to Erika Slezak's "One Life to Live" character as "the queen of misery" as daytime network head Gary Marshall describes her as. She's as melodramatic off the set as she is on, and when a former leading man (Kevin Kline) returns to the show, she's ripe for ripping as secrets from her past prepare to turn her own world upside down, turning off her guiding light as she moves into her own edge of night.She's surrounded by a series of wacko characters-producer Robert Downey Jr., his "friend with benefits" and jealous supporting player Cathy Moriarty (who has secrets of her own, revealed through her hatred of practically everybody around her), sardonic writer Whoopie Goldberg, and nervous costume designer Kathy Najimy who creates outrageous hats for the cast that threaten to make Celeste look like "Gloria F'in Swanson!" and new cast member Elizabeth Shue resemble Tweetie Bird.You have to go into this film realizing that this soap opera parody isn't necessarily reflective of early 1990's soap opera. The sets are too glamorous for most soaps of this time (at the time, only "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "Santa Barbara" were really close to as lavish as this was) and some of the plot lines even inside the soaps reek of dialog far worse than anything heard on daytime. But to watch it for Field's tour-de-force performance (she parodies her infamous Oscar speech as Celeste picks up her umpteenth daytime Emmy) is to find delight in seeing Field out of her usual comfort zone set with her more dramatic films. Even her early sitcom appearances were far from outrageous, and she proves herself to be a good sport as she hams it up deliciously.Second to Field in overall performance is Moriarty, perfectly cast as an Amazon-like woman whose frizzed hair and overly short nurses' uniform are only overshadowed by her Elaine Stritch like raspy voice. Moriarty is obviously an actress who decided that with her bigger-than-life qualities in real life, she'd never make it as an ingénue, and just went all out to camp up. Kline, too, is very funny, screaming "Don't call me Mr. Loman!" when his Florida dinner theater performance of "Death of a Salesman" is preparing for its curtain rise for its Geritol-guzzling audience. This is a film meant mainly for fun, not only for soap fans, but for those who just simply want to laugh at the ridiculousness of the drama of life and see their own problems in perspective.