Product Description

SUBSTANCE-ADDICTED HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS SUZANNE VALE IS ON THE SKIDS. AFTER A SPELL AT A DETOX CENTRE HER FILM COMPANY INSISTS AS A CONDITION OF CONTINUING TO EMPLOY HER THAT SHE LIVE WITH HER MOTHER DORIS MANN, HERSELF ONCE A STAR AND NOW A CHAMPION DRINKER.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6729 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2001-05-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
As its title might suggest, this movie based on Carrie Fisher's Hollywood struggle works better as a snapshot than as a complete film. Meryl Streep plays Suzanne Vale, a successful actress who is lost in her addictions. Her episodes are never as bombastic as Clean and Sober or other antidrug movies of the 1990s, however. Vale's a more lovable person, and as with all lovable people in Hollywood, other Hollywood people care for her: an understanding director (Gene Hackman), a philandering boyfriend (Dennis Quaid), and a bemused doctor (Richard Dreyfuss). But if you are going to talk about Fisher, you are going to mention her mom, Debbie Reynolds. And here Vale's mom is the die-hard Doris Mann, played with appropriate virtuosity by Shirley MacLaine. The love-hate mother-daughter relationship takes over the film in an entertaining way, with Fisher's sharp comic writing coming into play. You nearly forgive Vale's troubles for having to live under a hurricane like Mann (who goes into her nightclub act at the drop of a hat). The film's sweetest pleasure is seeing Streep loose and modern, nary a drab outfit or an accent in sight. Streep and director Mike Nichols make a risky--and rewarding--finale (fueled by the Oscar-nominated "I'm Checking Out" by Shel Silverstein) work effortlessly. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

"You're the realest person I've ever met in the abstract."
4.5 stars. The best thing about this DVD, besides the great script and fantastic cast of fine actors, is the price. Brand new, this DVD is under ten dollars?! I should write this review emphasizing that fact alone. As for the writing, it is excellent and witty and cerebral and dramatic, and it is all the more evident with all the incredible actors making the words their own. This exceptional cast includes former Oscar-winners Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Gene Hackman, and Richard Dreyfuss. Dennis Quaid, Rob Reiner, and Annette Bening also have good performances here and are worth mentioning. But the finest actor in this film is Meryl Streep, with yet another Oscar-nominated performance, this time showing great comedic timing with hilarious expressions and delivering her dialogue with impeccable precision. I'll stop now, before I wax rhapsodic. The script is sharp and intelligent, the acting is superb all around, and the price for this DVD is amazing! Thank you.

Carrie Fisher's Magnum Opus
What a revelation. I never knew what a movie could be until this film. Sweet, sentimental, dramatic, heart-wrenching and fall-down funny all in one movie. Meryl Streep shines and is more accessible than ever before. Shirley MacLaine is luminous as ever. Mary Wickes (Grandma) is hilarious and ended a wonderful career with this and "Sister Act," forever cementing herself as a 20th century fixture. Robin Bartlett (Aretha) is also a delight. A wonderfully written and awesomely acted story. Highest of recommendations for one and all, especially anyone who's interested in the "behind the scenes" aspect of Hollywood.

Hollywood glitz, glamor, and worms
Great cinematic rendition of Carrie Fisher's semi-autobiographical novel with wonderful performances from Shirley MacLaine as the aging screen queen and Meryl Streep as her star-druggie daughter. The cameos are wonderful...Richard Dreyfuss as the doc who pumps Streep's stomach?! Gene Hackman as Streep's suffering director...the list goes on. The "bad" thing is that we're left with one big unanswered question - when is Meryl Streep going to record a real album? Her voice is incredible! Fun, funny, and all too true - this one's a winner.