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Isn't She Great (2000)
Released By: Universal Studios Home Video   Rating: R   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Universal Studios Home Video
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Andrew Bergman
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Bette Midler, John Cleese, John Larroquette, Stockard Channing, David Hyde Pierce
Published ID: 542379
UPC: 025192070822,
Plot: Jacqueline Susann spent a long career on the edges of show business as an actress and model, but it never really paid off until she quit acting to write her first novel. Valley of the Dolls was a proudly sleazy potboiler that sold 26 million copies and had readers wondering which characters matched up to which real-life show-biz figures. Susann wrote several other successful novels, but fame and fortune didn't make her life any less tumultuous; she had well-publicized problems with drugs and alcohol and a series of free-wheeling affairs, although she stayed with her husband Irving Mansfield until her death in 1974 at the age of 56. Isn't She Great is a screen biography that focuses on Susann's roller-coaster literary career, with Bette Midler as Susann and Nathan Lane as Mansfield; David Hyde Pierce, Stockard Channing, John Cleese, and Sarah Jessica Parker round out the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Isn't She Great
Added 10/13/2009

It it a great movie if you like Bett Midler and Nathon Hall (which I do)!!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Fabulous Movie
Added 6/20/2009

I first saw this movie a few months ago on cable & fell in love with it. I actually never heard of it until I saw it that first time. I had to have it. Bette is fabulous in the movie. She is funny, soulful & caring. The movie is not too campy, just enough. Stockard Channing is wonderful in the movie as well. She is extremely funny and doesn't go unnoticed. The costumes in the movie are gorgeous. Any drag queen's dream wardrobe. LOL! This is a must have.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Not Really "Great" but It's fun if you like Midler
Added 3/7/2009

I just got the DVD and had not seen the movie since it was released several years ago now. Watching it again, I could see that Bette Midler didn't really even try to BE Jackie she just played it as bette midler saying Words that Jackie would (or may have) said in any of the given situations of her life. Now thinking back to what a great performace Midler gave in the "Rose" I am not sure what she was thinking here-but I liked it the first time (aka-I am big midler fan) and and I enjoyed it again (Aka-I am Midler fan) not sure if you were not a big midler fan that you would enjoy her playing Jackie but again if you are-it's a fun 90 mintues.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Undivine Ms M
Added 9/21/2008

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.

1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
I laughed, I cried, I love it!
Added 9/19/2008

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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Isn't She Great
Added 10/13/2009

It it a great movie if you like Bett Midler and Nathon Hall (which I do)!!

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Fabulous Movie
Added 6/20/2009

I first saw this movie a few months ago on cable & fell in love with it. I actually never heard of it until I saw it that first time. I had to have it. Bette is fabulous in the movie. She is funny, soulful & caring. The movie is not too campy, just enough. Stockard Channing is wonderful in the movie as well. She is extremely funny and doesn't go unnoticed. The costumes in the movie are gorgeous. Any drag queen's dream wardrobe. LOL! This is a must have.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Not Really "Great" but It's fun if you like Midler
Added 3/7/2009

I just got the DVD and had not seen the movie since it was released several years ago now. Watching it again, I could see that Bette Midler didn't really even try to BE Jackie she just played it as bette midler saying Words that Jackie would (or may have) said in any of the given situations of her life. Now thinking back to what a great performace Midler gave in the "Rose" I am not sure what she was thinking here-but I liked it the first time (aka-I am big midler fan) and and I enjoyed it again (Aka-I am Midler fan) not sure if you were not a big midler fan that you would enjoy her playing Jackie but again if you are-it's a fun 90 mintues.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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