Noises Off! - Der nackte Wahnsinn

This movie is a great film, period. Great concept, great cast, great plot. The inherent problem is the fact that most of this humor, though very fresh, is lost on most people. Unless you have acted on stage in some facet, this movie is mere slapstick. I saw this movie when I was younger, before I started acting, and I liked it, but it just seemed kind of shallow. Now that I have some stage under my belt, this movie's humor is mindblowing, because the insanity is just that outrageous. I'm not saying people can't like this movie if they aren't actors, but it helps. What helps this movie as well is the intellect of the humor. Below all the slapstick site gags and bad happenings, the depth of the character development is vast and beautiful, making you really think that these people, in the end, hate each other.

I am involved with the theater and I would just like to say that everything that happened in this movie is true! Anything and everything always goes wrong. It makes you truly appreciate what happens backstage, even when everything does decide to go right. I appreciate this movie to the fullest, and I would love to see the play sometime.

"Noises Off..." is one crazy movie. Based on Michael Frynn's play, it's about an inept travelling theater group doing stage productions of a British sex farce. The problem with this play is that as each month passes by while stopping from city to city, the actors start getting at each others throats. Michael Caine is hilariously funny as the frustrated director who gets to the point where he can't bear to deal with his clumsy actors because of the tumult backstage. "Noises Off..." is filmed in three different parts. First there's the rehearsal just before opening night in Des Moines, Iowa. Next there's a stop in Miami Beach where we see almost all the action taking place backstage. Finally there's the stop in Cleveland where the show practically falls flat on its face. This final part of the movie felt like torture to me. Nevertheless, "Noises Off..." is very funny most of the time and I did laugh alot. Besides Caine, the great cast also features Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Julie Hagerty, Marilu Henner, Denholm Elliott, Mark Linn-Baker, and Nicollette Sheridan. All give funny performances and that helps to make "Noises Off..." a very good comedy.

*** (out of four)

"Noises Off" is based on a popular play. Directed by Peter Bogdonavich, it tells the story of a bedroom farce, "Nothing On," which is, in fact, a dud of a play - and what goes on backstage and on-stage as the actors rehearse, play out of town, and open on Broadway. Thanks to break-ups, jealousies, and drunkenness, the offstage happenings spill over into the play, as the actors grow to hate one another more and more. Anyone with experience in theater will love it the most, but it's fun for everyone.

The cast is top-notch - Michael Caine is the harried director, and the stars of the "play" are Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Marilu Henner, Nicolette Sheridan, Mark-Linn Baker, and Denholm Elliott. Julie Hagerty is the near-hysterical stage manager.

There's a lot of slapstick and much "actor talk" with the actors searching for motivations; there's a drunk actor (Elliott) who pops up from time to time asking if it's his cue yet. (Soon, the cast finds his stash of booze and start chugalugging themselves.) Caine is terrific as a Valium-popping director driven to near-madness.

The play is much better than the film, even though the film is terribly funny.

Unfortunately, for me anyway, it's just terribly sad to see handsome, robust Christopher Reeve walking around and the talented, deceased John Ritter. Boy, life sure has some same twists. So does "Noises Off" - but unlike some of life's twists, these twists are accompanied by plenty of belly laughs.

I would have never, ever watched this movie. I passed it by many times without every giving it a second of a chance. I mean, I was 10 and this movie really held no interest for me. Then, one day, while scanning through the channels I came upon this movie when Nicollette Sheridan is running around in her underwear... well, that got my attention. That one thing held my interest long enough for me to get pulled into the story of the movie and by the time the movie was over... I loved it.

Even at my age this movie had me rolling with laughter. But now 11 years later, I caught the movie again and it was even funnier. The characters were great and were acted well by the all star cast. Christopher Reeve getting a nose bleed at the slightest sign of violence, John Ritters jealousy, Michael Caine's frustrations at trying to deal with the antics of his cast were all hilarious. Watching as the cast is arguing and fighting while trying to act out the scenes and keep Selsdon (Denholm Elliot) from alcohol was hilarity defined. I REALLY loved Marilu Henner as Belinda in this movie. I really fell in love with her character as I watched her run around trying to keep the peace. She always seemed to know what was going on and was always perky and her smile rarely waivered. Overall, the whole cast was great and it is one of my most unexpected favorite movies.