Rating: 
Summary: Okay, so it's not art.
Review: If you are looking for deep cinema that will change your life, or for an accurate biography of Ms. Susann, keep looking. If you are looking for a witty, feel-good movie with Miss M at her most divine, a star-studded cast, mostly believable human interactions, and great period settings, this is it.
Rating: 
Summary: like a100 car pile up
Review: Isn't She Great is so terrible that it's like watching a car wreck in slow motion. Bette completely gives in to camp and Nathan Lane, well bless his heart he is a true stage actor and over projects on screen. Jackie Susann was a complicated woman behind the hard as nails exterior and this movie never shows that. The whole thing was just dreadful and you will wonder just what the producer and director were thinking of.
Rating: 
Summary: THE MOVIE IS GREAT
Review: not only is this movie funny, but its a sincere look at the life of a great novelist. a love story, with a twist. better midler and nathan lane are great as the leads. stockard channing and david hyde pierce are wonderful as the supporting cast. i highly recommend this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: This isn't Great
Review: Okay before I get started I want to make the following very clear:
1. I am a big fan of both Bette Midler and Nathan Lane.
2. I am a bigger, and not to mention well read, fan of dear Jackie Susann.
I just finished watching this movie, and disappointed is not even the word that describes how I feel right now. The movie was so inaccurate it is disturbing. Yes Jackie was a climber, at best when it came to her show business career, and yes Guy was/is autistic and unfortuantely they could not have him live with them. And yes, Valley, Love Machine and Once were more than successful. But, what hapened to "Every Night", what happened to Jackie's relationship with her father, mother, Ethel Merman and countless others.
Let me add this : Jackie asked Irving to marry her, when she called him at his parent's house in Brooklyn. Irving did not know who Jackie was until that fateful day by the pay phone in the theater distrct only one year before she proposed when she caught his eye. After Jackie's first bout with cancer and the mastectomy, her and Irving were like bacon and eggs. Now I know the first years of their marriage were probably not cemented in stone like the later were, she was a child brde for all intensive purposes, not to mention a bit of a free spirit. and let me add this, if you read Irving's biography of Jackie, he even acknowledged that his feelings towards their union were confused at best, they truly fell in love with each other along the way.
The movie did improve once Jackie sold Valley, and Bette and David Hyde Pierce's relationship was superb , but wasted on the falacies wrtten in the script.
If you want an accurate bio of the Queen of camp this is not the way to go despie the extraordinary talents of Bette, Nathan, Stockard and David.
Rating:
Summary: Jackie Susann's wonderful life story
Review: The auther of "Valley of the Dolls" and "Love Machine", Jacqueline Susann, was a very interesting cult figure. ISN'T SHE GREAT is a wonderful (if a little overly-sentimental) tribute to Jackie's life and work.Bette Midler gives a highly-nuanced performance as the ambitious Jackie, while Nathan Lane gives her beloved husband Irving Mansfield the true heartbeat of the movie. The plot includes Jackie's beloved son who was autistic and her valiant fight with breast cancer which took her life in 1974. The fantastic supporting cast includes the always-remarkable Stockard Channing as Jackie's best friend Florence Maybelle; David Hyde Pierce (TV's "Frasier), Amanda Peet (WHIPPED, "Jack and Jill") and John Cleese ("Fawlty Towers"). The wonderful score by Burt Bacharach is fantastic and the opening song "On My Way" sung by Dionne Warwick is a real classic in the making. I was greatly surprised by this fantastic film.
Rating:
Summary: Nope, she's Divine!
Review: The hilarious Miss M does it again! Her timing is fab and she nails the delivery. Nobody can tell off God quite like Bette as trash novelist, Jackie Susann. While the movie was not a knock-your-socks-off hit, the critics are wrong. With perfectly cast supporting players, a super-ditzy 70s-style score by none other than Burt Bacharach, and wonderful costuming and sets, the film was very enjoyable and I recommend it to those who actually have a sense of humor. Stockard Channing (who really shines in over-the-top roles) is incomparable and a perfect match to Bette. Her best lines are second only to Bette's conversations with God and her editor. Master of the stage, Nathan Lane, delivers his usual outstanding performance as the endearing, funny, supportive husband and handler of Bette's wacky, exceedingly self-centered Susann. Bette and Nathan are like cream and sugar. David Hyde Pierce brings Niles' charm and wonderful sensitivity to his character as Bette's editor. John Cleese, always a very funny guy, doesn't get nearly enough screen time or lines, but makes the very best of it anyway. So what if the bio wasn't accurate, it never is. And the acting was not overdone at all, it was meant to be flamboyant! Will I see it again? You bet! If only just to listen Bette tell it like it is. Way to go, Miss M!
Rating:
Summary: Bette Rocks!
Review: This film is a fictionalised account of Jacqueline Susann's life and her drive to be recognized as "somebody".
The flamboyant costumes and colourful settings are very realistic and bring back memories of the late 60s and early 70s.
The cast does a great job, & Burt Bacharach's score shines...
Rating:
Summary: Pure Dreck
Review: This film version of the lifestory of Jacqueline Susann is deplorable in every way. What were these people thinking of? And did this movie actually make into the theatres? Even as a fan of Midler and Susann, it was a completely disappointing experience, with Midler, whose standard schtick is wearing thin these days, playing little more than a parody of herself. If we hadn't already known it was supposed to be about Jacqueline Susann, it would never have become apparent, since Midler misses the mark entirely - beginning with her physical type. As a gifted and presumably self-respecting actress, Midler should have abandoned the project after watching the first rushes. What also should have become apparent from the first rushes, is that Stockard Channing, who seems to play a comglomerate of Susann's women friends, should have played Susann herself. She has the range and skill and look to pull it off - Midler's a great entertainer, but Channing is a far better actress. As Irving Mansfield, Susann's husband and agent, Nathan Lane is well on his way to become the male Bette Midler - a parody of himself, and as predictable as he can be. Lane is just lame in this. The script was a few funny exchanges, but in the hands of Midler and Nathan Lane's overacting, *any* script would get lost. It is much more of a fictionalized account of Susann's life - the episodes of spending time on the *Christina* with Ari and Jackie Onassis are completely fabricated - but it's all for naught anyway. As for the all-important costuming - it is a split decision. Technically many of the clothes were absolutely perfect - they just looked ridiculous on Midler. Jacqueline Susann was fastidious about her fashion appearance, such as it was, and many of the clothes seemed to be exact replicas of the originals. On Susann, the styles were garish and over-the-top, emphasizing her rock-hard desire to succeed at any cost. On Midler, the same clothes were ludicrous. I admire Midler for being unafraid to look ludicrous - it's been her calling card for decades - but the ugly reality is that Midler, who is gloriously Ruebenesque, needed to shed more than a few pounds to pull off Susann's look. The Truman Capote character, played by Sam Street, was fabulous - for his entire 30 seconds onscreen, and while the film's reference to the famous feud between Capote and Susann was briefly touched on, it is exactly the sort of incident of Susann's life that is completely obliterated by this fiasco. John Cleese is wasted as Susann's publisher, and Hyde-Pierce is his usual Niles-like anal-retentive self. The producers were right on the money a few times -- music by Burt Bacharach and sung by Dionne Warwick was an excellent choice, if only they had used ALL of Bacharach's Sixties style music instead of any of the dreary new stuff. "Isn't She Great" is simply awful.
Rating:
Summary: Superficial on superficial
Review: This is a stunningly superficial film about incredibly superficial people. Bette Midler plays Bette Midler, of course, and Nathan Lane is simply wonderful. But the script stinks. Not more than a single laugh in the movie. But what could be done with a biography of a pornographer who wanted only to be famous and cursed God, whom she thought lived in a tree? Technically, the film is fine. But it isn't worth anyone's time.
Rating:
Summary: Superficial on superficial
Review: This movie was so good,funny, and affecting that I ended up seeing it twice in the cinema. Now, I'm a BIG Bette Midler fan. I mean BIG.But I can't really say that I am biased, because ANY film with her radiates such warmth, and energy, and this one is no different. This movie isn't very thought-provoking, but it is sincere,hilarious, but at the same time very, very fragile.All the costars did a solid job, but this is Bette's party, this is her movie. I won't give away the plot, but it's about a writer, Jackie Susan (she wrote 'Valley of the Dolls"), in the 60's, and she is in every sense of the word a rockstar.Over the top,dramatic, in your face, flashy, but with lots of heart and soul.She keeps getting rejected, 'till she finally gets her chance at becoming what she aspires to be- a writer. Then Jackie gets a punch, she's diagnosed with cancer. But she gets ten more years, and on those ten years, she takes you on ana entertaining and delightful ride, without ever once losing spirit. The way Bette portrayed Jackie, she made her seem like such a lovable person, warm,fiery,crazy,shrewd,witty, and full of heart-someone a lot like me.I bet Jackie was great.And you know what, so is Bette. I reccommend everyone sees this film.It's the perfect comedy, with just a touch of sad.
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