Isn't She Great (2000)

Most people probably approached Isn't She Great looking for a screaming camp-fest, only to discover a surprisingly sincere love letter to trash-novelist Jacqueline Susann, author of Valley of the Dolls and Once Is Not Enough. Bette Midler plays the brash, self-obsessed Susann, who started as a struggling actress yearning for fame and not too picky about what she was famous for. Fortunately, she catches the eye of personal manager Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane), who seems to have no particular skills either but who is so passionately devoted to his client that he marries her. It's Irving who first suggests that Susann write a book about the sordid lives of celebrities and beautiful people, and Irving who pushes the book to publisher after publisher with dogged devotion. The movie lurches a bit in Susann's early life--it wants to approach the difficulties of Susann's life (an autistic son, breast cancer) with a mixture of sentimentality and irreverence, which doesn't always mesh--but once Valley of the Dolls finds a publisher, the movie finds its legs. The ever-dependable David Hyde Pierce plays the uptight WASP assigned to edit Susann's manuscript, and much mileage is gotten out of the conflict between Pierce's blue-blood manner and Midler's broad Jewish glitz. John Cleese and Stockard Channing also provide able support. Paul Rudnick's script shows a genuine affection for its heroine; Rudnick also wrote the screenplays for Addams Family Values and In and Out. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Undivine Ms M

The answer is, no, she is not great. Not by a long shot. This movie doesn't work on any level. Bette Midler and Nathan Lane are two of the most over-the-top scenery chewers to ever hit the silver screen. In the right vehicle they would both be fabulous, but this wasn't it. Here the tone and mood are all wrong.

It is the story of trashy best selling novelist Jacqueline Susann (Bette Midler) and her press agent/husband Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane). He seems to be the one asking 'Isn't She Great,' but he never seems to hear that people are saying 'no she is not.' In spite or because of her lack of literary talent, she becomes a huge success. Cancer and an autistic child were personal burdens she had to bear. Why then is the tone so slap stick? It doesn't work. It is like Springtime for Hitler, but without the laughs. At one point Truman Capote is shown on TV saying Jacqueline Susann's novels aren't writing, they are just typing (he really said it about Jack Kerouac, but it would be better applied to Susann). Capote was a great writer, in spite of his flaws, and the movie about him won an Oscar for Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Capote was a much better movie than Isn't She Great.

I thought the movie might be good, or else it would be so bad that it would be entertaining, like something Joe Eszterhas would do. It was not bad enough to be entertaining, it was just apalling watching Midler and Lane mugging, thinking they were doing so fantastic. The tagline is talent isn't everything. Unfortunately, lack of talent IS everything when it comes to Isn't She Great (what, no question mark?).

The Rose (1979) .... Bette Midler was nominated for an Oscar for playing Mary Rose Foster
For the Boys (1991) .... Bette got another nomination for playing Dixie Leonard, but Martha Raye claimed it was a rip off of her life story, and threatened to sue.
The Birdcage (1996) .... Nathan Lane was a scream as Albert Goldman
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar (1995) .... Stockard Channing was Carol Ann
Six Degrees of Separation (1993) .... Oscar nomination for Stockard's portrayal of Louisa ('Ouisa') Kittredge
Nixon - Collector's Edition (1995) .... David Hyde Pierce was John Dean
JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1991) .... Jerry Johnson was played by John Larroquette (credited on Director's Cut)
Richie Rich (1994) .... John Larroquette portrayed Lawrence Van Dough
Charlie's Angels - Full Throttle (Widescreen Unrated Special Edition) (2003) .... Cleese was Mr. Munday
A Fish Called Wanda (1988) .... John Cleese played Archie Leach, and also got an Oscar nomination for the script.
September 21, 2008

I laughed, I cried, I love it!

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I am a big Nathan Lane fan and, as usual, he was fantastic. He wasn't just "acting", he WAS Irving Mansfield. I highly recommend this movie to everyone. September 19, 2008

Company well worth spending a couple of hours with...

Loose biopic of the life of Jacqueline Susann, author of "Valley of the Dolls". Susann died of cancer in 1974, Good work by Bette Midler in the title role. Nathan Lane, of course, was great as Irving Mansfield, her agent and doting husband. And what an amazing collection of neckties! Nice supporting work by David Hyde Pierce, Stockard Channing and John Cleese. I'm giving this film 4 stars mostly for its design elements, and the fact it was partly shot in Montreal. :) It's a nice little movie. September 30, 2007

It aint so great...but it aint so bad!

Look...every review I have read of this movie bags it. I bought it because I bought the Bacharach soundtrack and the music is fab. This film wasnt released in Australia and having read so many bad reviews I had to buy it and see for myself.
I liked it. Its not an epic, its a bit dizzy, a bit syrupy, a bit camp and there arent any special effects or car chases...but it was NICE. Just nice. Great actors, good sets and cinematography. The script is weak but makes its point and for those who know anything about or have an interest in Miss Sussann a worthwhile look. May 13, 2007

Why Was The Cast Shuffled?

Many reviewers are confused as to why this film had a competent cast yet ended up as such a stinker, but the answer seems rather obvious:

The Casting Director of this bomb was an idiot.

I've seen this kind of thing happen before, where certain talent is chosen to play certain roles, but then later on in the development process the Casting Director has a "brain storm" about how to make it "better," as it were. Very rarely does this strategy ever work.

It seems that this was why you had Stockard Channing (a Jackie double, no less!) on board in the first place, because she seems to have been first cast as Jackie. Take some of the blame off the CD by guessing that Midler's agent later demanded that his client play Jackie instead of her friend? Possible.

But at any rate, the result was a dud, and the CD still should never have allowed it. (It could also be argued that Cleese and Pierce's parts may have been switched, but we need no further reason to call it a day on this one.)

That's because the real mixup is that Channing would have played a much better Jackie, that's all. Heck, even fellow cast member Amanda Peet would've played a better Jackie!

And as for Midler doing these lame bios, enough, already! She's already done a crappy Gypsy remake, playing Gypsy Rose Lee's mom, a crappy Janice Joplin ripoff (The Rose), a crappy Francis Langford USO gal thing (For The Boys). And now this piece of junk on Jackie.

Just remember this, Bette - and I DO love ya, gal - while you ARE and always will be the Divine Miss M., you are NOT and never will be the divine-anyone-else! July 17, 2006

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