Soapdish

Celeste Talbert is the longtime star of the daytime soap opera "The Sun Also Sets," and she is not happy about sharing the spotlight. As the show's ratings slide, her co-star Montana Moorehead and producer David Seton Barnes scheme to push Celeste off the series. Their plan involves bringing back Jeffrey Anderson, an actor from the soap's past who shares a difficult history with Celeste, and installing her young niece Lori Craven in a role. The maneuvering on set mirrors the melodrama the show puts on camera.

Michael Hoffman directed this 1991 comedy, the second feature in his filmography after Some Girls. Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman wrote the screenplay, and Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman produced it for Paramount. Sally Field plays Celeste, with Kevin Kline as Jeffrey, Robert Downey Jr. as David, and Cathy Moriarty as Montana. Teri Hatcher and Paul Johansson also appear in the ensemble, which numbers three dozen credited performers.

Made for about 25 million dollars, the film took in roughly 36 million worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds a 6.6 rating from around 19,000 votes, while TMDB shows 6.3 from roughly 275. A critics' rating of 6.1 from 42 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, suggesting a mixed professional reception alongside generally favorable viewer response.