Isn't She Great Reviews
Top CriticThe most notable aspect of this trashy (but unenjoyable) biopic of Jacquleine Susann, Valley of the Doll's best-selling author, is its running time (93 minutes); Bette Midler and Nathan Lane give two of their worst and broadest performances.
Full Review
| Original Score: D
The filmmakers don't know what to make of their overblown subject.
Isn't She Great is so bland and sentimental, it makes trash seem boring.
Leaves an unintentional unpleasant aftertaste.
The 'She' in the comedy Isn't She Great is Jacqueline Susann, and the joke is that she isn't.
Only funny if you enjoy going out and paying for the kind of comedy writing you can stay at home and get free on sitcoms.
Here is a movie that needed great trash, great sex and great gossip, and at all the crucial moments Susann is talking to a tree.
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| Original Score: 1/4
Burt Bacharach is an inspired, period-perfect choice to compose the film's score, which deftly echoes the music, and in particular, the theme song of the Valley of the Dolls movie.
| Original Score: 3.5/5
If you're looking for laughs, give Valley of the Dolls another read instead.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1.5/5
The script plays like a series of sketches, some too thin and some broadly overdone.
Lane's sweetness, his naughty wiliness and his dapper charm all make his performance wonderful to watch.
Amusing, light entertainment.
| Original Score: 3/4
Colorful and fun and has some good laughs.
The movie is a stinker, but it's not an enjoyable stinker.
A wannabe satire shackled by misplaced reverence.
| Original Score: 1.5/4
What's not there is the ability to stitch together the light tone of screwball comedy with the uncomfortable business of real biography.
Neither Midler nor director Bergman are able to navigate the queasy shifts from camp cartoon to bathos, as Susann sputters in denial over her cancer and autistic son.
