Noises Off...

Rating:
Summary: Harsh But Comical Reality
Review: I have performed in plays and some of the events in this movie were really close to home! The movie is divided neatly. First we see poor Caine trying to direct the rehearsal before the numerous problems come into play, and his character is well developed. He really tries hard to get things straight, at times he loses control and flies into a rage, but he also tries to avoid hurting the feelings of his cast. The different members of the cast offer a wide range of personalities that help to entertain us. The 2nd phase is quite well done. From the rehearsal, we had an idea of how the play was suppose to go, but the personal conflicts between the actors cause many many problems! It is interesting that the 2nd phase concentrates on the back stage events. After a few performances of my own, I have learned that there is always an interesting show back stage that the audience never sees! The 3rd phase is an appropriate finish. The personal conflicts get 'just a little' out of control in full view of the audience! Even the intervals are well done. (Like when poor Caine is telling the story to a drunk stranger, and the stranger is very sympathetic!) You may think this movie is unrealistic, but believe me it is not!

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to recommend it but laughs
Review: The cast is spotty, the direction is pedestrian, and the script is Hollywood-ized in the dumbest possible way. But the source material is so perfect that none of Bogdanovich's ineptitude can ruin it. Rent this at your local video store - since you apparently can't buy it anymore - and just laugh your head off.

Rating:
Summary: Make some noise about this movie
Review: This film is simply hilariously. While it didnt last long in theaters it will be around on video to enjoy. If you get the chance buy this video! John Ritter, Chritopher Reeve, Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliot and more. Based on a Tony winning play the story follows a off broadway farce on stage and behind the scenes. I laughed and laughed. While comedy is subjective there's a lot of styles that amuse in this picture, and with that cast there's probably someone you like. Take a chance on this film. The noise you make will probably be laughter.

Rating:
Summary: JOHN RULES!
Review: John Ritter rules as GARRY/ROGER. He is outstandingly hilarious. This is one of my favorite movies!

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious confusion
Review: This is the most energetic frenetic farce on film. A superb cast of veteran actors, razor sharp timing, and constant surprise fill this door-slamming energy-filled comedy with giggles and laughs for all. It is about the production of a stage play. The madcap nonsense never stops. Anyone who has ever acted or worked in theater particularly will enjoy this romp through a director's worst nightmare...anything that can go wrong...does. Lots of complicated and humorous personal relationships are woven through the plot. A nice choice for a silly light not-at-all-serious evening.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely funny
Review: I completely agree with the previous comment. I recently had the opportunity to buy this video (at moviesunlimited.com). It's funny, the actors are fantastic and it's so well done from the theatral point of view. The wonderful play by Michael Frayn is here performed in a superb way.

Rating:
Summary: one of the funniest movies ever!
Review: I came across this video quite by accident. I saw the list of stars that were in it and thought it was worth a shot. Boy! Was I suprised! It turned out to be one of the best videos I have ever rented. I laughed so hard that I couldn't breathe! My teenage children and I have watched it several times and still laugh at the comic genuis abundant in this video! I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, intelligent fun - great script, impeccable acting
Review: I am so disappointed that this brilliant gem of a movie is not to be found to buy anywhere on this planet! I have a copy made of a video rental from England - a bad, but highly treasured copy. Is there anything you people at Amazon can do to make it available in this lifetime? If you need any more praise: it is understandable that people "in the profession" love this movie - but you don't have to be in order to do so - just let yourself be drawn into the process of getting the show on the road - and enjoy the ride!!

Rating:
Summary: Noises Off Video
Review: send me an email if you need this video. i have a couple. ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Laughing Noises!!!
Review:

And mere words cannot do this one justice, but I'll try...just thinking about what to write gives me the giggles.

First, let me say that this film is based on a play by Michael Frayn. Now, many a viewer's gonna argue here whether or not the film is better than the play, but it really doesn't matter, considering that both are funny in their own right.

FIRST, THE "PLAY: "Nothing On" starring Dotty(Carol Burnette) as a goofy house-sitter named Mrs. Clackett who is victim to many a visitor and their follies. Among her visitors are Flavia and Philip(played by bright-eyed Marilu Henner and pre-accident Christopher Reeve), a young couple who come to Clackett's house, hiding from the IRS, ready to make love until the sun rises. They tell Mrs. C to keep their location a secret. They're also painfully unaware that on top of Mrs. C(literally), another sex-driven couple(John Ritter, Nicolette Sheridan) will invade the house, looking for lust and find out slowly that they're not alone! Oh, by the way, a burglar(RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK's Denholm Elliot) will join the sex farce when he ALSO believes that the house is vacant so that he may rob it. What follows is a fast door-slamming comedy that APPEARS to work on stage, but...

IN REAL LIFE: Director Lloyd Fellowes(Michael Caine) is a very tired man. He has been trying for DAYS to make this "Nothing On" run smoothly. He's been dealing with blown lines, doors that don't work right, wrong props(Sardines...), clueless stagehands(Mark Linn-Baker of PERFECT STRANGERS & Julie Hagerty), and of course...THE ACTORS(Ok, viewers, start your snickering!). He's got Dotty(Burnett), the OLD veteran stage-actress who is dating Gary(Ritter), a man who just NEEDS to get his point across somehow by blathering incomplete sentences("I've worked with a lot of directors, Lloyd. Some of them were geniuses, some of them were bastards, but I've never met one who was so totally and absolutely... I don't know."). He has Freddy who is in the middle of marriage problems(Reeve) and is very sensitive...in fact, his nose bleeds whenever ANY type violence happens in front of him and Belinda(Henner) who befriends Freddy in his time of need. Then there's the ditzy blond bimbo(Sheridan) who is supposedly sleeping with Lloyd and the alcoholic old fart of an actor, Selsdon(Elliot) who does nothing but DRINK, get drunk, and pass out. He also sleeps through his cues, but most of these problems are curable through the team helping him out. This looks good on paper...BUT...

THE REAL STORY: After the team goes on the road, things start to fall apart! Dotty ends up in a BAD fight with Gary. At the hotel they all stay at, Dotty comes to Freddy's room to talk to him...ALL NIGHT. And nothing else. Only, Gary finds out about where Dotty was all night and from there, Gary and Dotty don't say a word to one another. The thing is, Freddy is in the middle of it all, too, so whenever Gary sees him, he wants to naturally hurt him something fierce. Oh, by the way, Freddy lets Belinda know of what happened with Dotty and him all night, which makes Belinda jealous as hell since Belinda's slowly falling in love with poor Freddy...oh, not only is Lloyd sleeping with Brooke(Sheridan), he is also sleeping with Poppy, one of his stagehands(Julie Hagerty), so he has to balance two eggs, blind-folded, with only one hand while riding a bike with no handles, if that's the best way to describe it. On top of the feuding and wanting to kill each other backstage, they ALL have to look after Selsdon so he doesn't try to go out and drink or drink the wine that Lloyd purchased for his later date with Brooke.

AND, they must perform the play...

There.

What follows is one of THE funniest movies you will ever see and it's due mostly to the performances of some of our best actors and actresses. Burnett's delightful and HILARIOUS, Caine is an absolute nutball madman but plays it with such GOOD madness, that we all understand what he's going through and what he has already been through. Ritter is funny as the ambiguous Gary who can hardly finish off a sentence without saying "you know" or just trailing off. Hagerty is funny as the shy and used-to-being-silent stagehand. And a special kudos to Mark Baker as Tim, the stagehand. He may not be a huge draw anymore, but he really shows that he is capable of being funny through his facial expressions and annunciation as well as clumsiness. When he has to take over for the injured Freddy in one scene, that also includes talking in his British accent which, of course, Tim butchers due to nervousness("Um...he's a-a-all right...he'll be o-okay in a...m-min-yut"). And this is another movie that Reeves is in that will forever stand out as one of his greatest. Kudos to the entire cast for a job well-done.

Now, I have to say that the movie didn't find and audience in the theaters and I can see why, but I can personally say, as a former stage-actor that everything that you see on the screen has happened in one form or another. I actually had two stagehands get into a fist-fight back-stage and we lost a couple props and had to pretend they were "there". I am glad that this movie has a following like it does and I have been trying for MONTHS to order it into the video store near me with no luck.

Anchor Bay is a video company that has been re-releasing movies by the dozen. Examples range from THE BLACK HOLE, THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE, and STRAW DOGS. I don't know if they have a web-site or even if they cruise this spot, but they NEED TO KNOW that Noises Off! needs a video release NOW!

This is a great comedy. One of the best in recent years...don't take it from me...take it from everyone else.

Now, start from the top of the review...and noises off.

--Matt