Noises Off...

You may have to see it a few times to catch it all, as it is very fast paced, but there's not very many movies that have made me laugh so much. An amazing cast with amazing acting. Often overlooked is the ability to maintain character without busting up laughing at what your co-star is doing...especially during long takes, which this movie has many of. The late, great John Ritter's performance is the glue that holds it all together, and Michael Caine's depiction of the pained and tormented director is brilliant. It is also a great show of diversity for the late Christopher Reeve, who is much more Clark Kent than Superman in this show. Nicolette Sheridan in her undies is certainly not hard to look at either!

Highly recommended...but don't just see it once, as I wrote before. It was a bit confusing on my first one. It is also fairly family-friendly, with only a couple obscenities exclaimed by Michael Caine in hilariously funny moments of frustration.

"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)

The timing, the plot, the acting, the variety of people, all of this make up a movie which literally had me crying with laughter for the entire second half of the film. I wanted to watch it again immediately, and likely would have if it hadn't been 2:30 am. The idea of the film is that these actors - playing actors - pull together, fight, and put up with each other to keep a play going. This is John Ritter as his amusing self, without going overboard. This is Christopher Reeve: tall, good looking, humble, funny. Carol Burnett being just ... HER. This is Julie Haggerty meek, mild, and under control. Mostly. This is Michael Caine, sly and cranky. Typecasting? NOOOO!!*grin* The whole cast is perfect for their respective roles. Tiny TINY bit of language, but otherwise something for a variety of ages. Find it, make popcorn, sit and watch - but don't eat the popcorn around the second half, you might choke.

Maer

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.

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.