I actually had high hopes for this movie, when I learned the cast included Bette Midler, Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce, Stockard Channing and John Cleese. When I learned the screenplay was by Paul Rudnik. When I learned the director was Andrew Bergman. All funny, funny people. I was expecting a humorous bio of author Jaqueline Susann, a camp icon who was, unintentionally, a pretty funny woman. No such luck. The effort seems muted, with very little genuine wit. If they'd meant to take a serious look at the author, that might not matter so much, but her life isn't covered with much depth, and the more serious details-her battle with cancer, her son's mental handicap-are brought up but not really dealt with.(The movie clocks in at about 90 minutes-every plot point seems to have been rushed through.) If they weren't aiming for camp and weren't aiming for straight drama, what were they aiming for? Bette Midler is miscast-it probably seemed like a clever idea to cast one camp icon as another, but she neither looks nor sounds anything like Susann-actually, costar Stockard Channing seems a better fit. Clue to how bad this movie is: When I saw a clip of the 1967 film version of "Valley of the Dolls", I realized I'd rather be watching THAT.
Review of Isn't She Great
