Best movie of this year hands down!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A quarter of a century has passed since the teaming of two major divas of the past fifty years of cinema: Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine, playing fictional characters loosely based on Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Streep is a "B" movie actress struggling with various emotional issues which has lead her to become addicted to not only prescription medication, but illegal drugs such as cocaine as well. She's rushed to emergency after a bad day on the set where somehow she ended up in the bed of a stranger, took an overdose of pills, and he literally carries her out, straps her into his jeep and gets her to the emergency room, dropping her off as if he was returning a library book. She must then deal with getting her stomach pumped, going through withdrawal, and then finally going to rehab. And guess what, ladies and gentlemen. This is a comedy, all told through allegedly real life incidents by author Carrie Fisher, once Princess Leia, now a sardonic commentator on her own life and not even quite the "B" actress that Streep plays here.Just as Streep deals with being introduced to her rehab group, she gets a visit from her overly made-up but still glamorous movie star mother (Shirley MacLaine), a legend of the golden age who is indeed still here. "My mother drew up the contracts, so I'm here!", she sings in an altered version of Stephen Sondheim's brilliant "I'm Still Here" from "Follies". Mom Shirley gave daughter Meryl sleeping pills as a kid, which Streep blames MacLaine for causing her drug addiction. Is it wishful thinking or wishful drinking on Streep's part, "Wishful Drinking" being the name of the very funny book which Carrie Fisher later did on Broadway and had filmed for cable T.V. as more comical observations about her life. Toss into the mix grandma Mary Wickes as MacLaine's own "monster" of a mother, lovable maybe to those who know her socially, but definitely somebody you'd think twice about as wanting for your mama. Conrad Bain ("Maude", "Different Strokes") simply retorts to Wickes' constant chattering with "Yap Yap Yap, That's all you do all the live long day". Their delightful two scene cameo is an enjoyable commentary on the issues of different generations. Just like Jennifer Lopez had to tolerate a nasty mother-in-law to be (Jane Fonda) in "Monster in Law", Fonda had to tolerate a former nasty mother-in-law (Elaine Stritch) who got revenge on her daughter in law by simply adoring Lopez from the moment she met her. Unlike "Monster in Law", however, "Postcards From the Edge" utilizes the issues of two daughters dealing with mother issues in a realistic and understanding way, rather than adding hate into the plot line simply for uncomfortable laughs.While some of the script seems to focus on "the blame game", it is more about two women who are trying the best they can to understand the other, move on from bitter memories, and get past issues that have taken their life out of control. MacLaine's character has a bit of a drinking problem, gets into a car accident and like Streep, ends up in the hospital, minus wig and make-up, and looking like Elsa Lanchaster in "The Bride of Frankenstein" after being caught in a thunderstorm. The two actresses let it all bare out here, unafraid to go into places most actresses might be scared to go, especially of MacLaine's era. Streep's attempts to even get through the simplest of movie shoots proves futile, with director Gene Hackman laying into her with all the crassness that Hollywood has to offer. Cameos by Rob Reiner, Richard Dreyfeuss and Annette Benning add to the realistic issues of Streep's tumbling life, with Dennis Quaid giving a very good performance as the actor who seduces the unknowing Streep, pretends to be an old high school friend when she doesn't recognize him, and ultimately a heel after Streep finds out that he had also been sleeping with Benning. Streep deservedly got an Oscar Nomination, but in one of the worst examples of Academy Award criminology, MacLaine was overlooked, that being the biggest shocker of the year. Fisher, too, should have been honored for her screenplay, as should have been Mike Nichols for one of the best directing jobs he had done since "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Streep gets to show off her excellent singing voice here, performing two songs (including one triumphant declaration of independence in the finale) while MacLaine bangs the heck out of "I'm Still Here" (in D-Flat) as she explores her own regrets. It's ironic that a decade later, MacLaine would work again with Carrie Fisher and the real deal of who she plays here (Debbie Reynolds) in the amusing but mediocre T.V. movie "These Old Broads". In both films, Fisher explores the adoration that "these old broads" receive from the gay community, as evidenced by an encounter that MacLaine has with a rehab patient who happens to do one of MacLaine's old movie characters (obviously based upon Reynolds' Oscar nominated "Molly Brown") in drag. In typical comically bitter fashion, MacLaine gets in a bitchy line ("You know how the queens love me", she tells Streep") while the gay man tells his lover how obvious MacLaine's plastic surgery is, although in a very affectionate but knowing manner. This film isn't perfect, and might strike some as a bitter attack on Hollywood's treatment to aging divas or has-beens, but if we got that with "Sunset Bouevard", why couldn't it be done 40 years after Norma Desmond got ready for her close-up?

I have a good buddy, who some 20 years ago got tired of getting drunk, stoned and hung-over and began going to AA. Evidently during the meetings the participants open up and mention some of the calamities that occurred to them while abusing alcohol and drugs. (They do seem to go together!) He noticed that there were a few rather attractive women, who were also quite revealing in their tales of drinking, drugs and sexual debauchery that occurred while under the influence. He also realized that they also, like him, needed some kind of emotional outlet and while they could no longer drink or do drugs, recreational sex was still a way to have fun. So ,he began asking a lot of them out for coffee…Which brings us to 2 things that "Postcards From the Edge" show us:1-Even a very serious subject, such as substance abuse, can have a lot of humor.B-Most men are pigs.As far as the latter, actress Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) discovers her Prince Charming, Jack Faulkner (Dennis Quaid) who is really an expert at getting laid. It's easier when they are drunk and coked up, but Jack is capable of delivering the romantic manipulation needed to seduce Suzanne when she is also stone cold sober. Although she finds out from another actress (Annette Benning, in a great cameo) that not only had Jack had sex with her in the afternoon before their date that evening, but he used some of the very same lines. Fortunately, she finds out before she's invested too much emotional baggage in the relationship.As far her substance abuse, the way that Mike Nichols avoids the heavy handed treatment of drugs makes this an entertaining film. There is virtually no background on Streep's character. We get introduced to her on a movie set, where between takes she goes to her trailer to snort up. After ending in an ER from an overdose, she has to go to a detox before getting released in her mother's care. Mom is Doris Mann (Shirley Maclaine) who was a big star in her day, but now in her 50's the roles are few and far between. Doris is a functioning alcoholic .And while none of this really seems too funny, there are some hilarious lines in a smart and well written script. Shirley is playing a character quite similar to Aurora in "Terms of Endearment." She loves her daughter but is envious of her youth and while she realizes she can't get it back, she can't help but try to control every aspect of her life, whether it her professional or social life. She has a huge party to celebrate Suzanne's release from detox and ups wowing the crowd with a musical number. Although she had Suzanne open for her first with a song. There's not a whole lot that happens in this movie. For us who are neophytes to the workings on a film set it's fascinating to watch what goes on in production as we watch Suzanne the actress at work. This is a movie that moves at a fast clip, it's only 101 minutes and while some may feel that there could have been more background about Suzanne and Doris, Nichols really waits the end to tell us why Suzanne ended up in rehab. Incredible performances by Streep and Maclaine. Shirley also shows off a great pair of legs, even at age 56. Quaid does as great job as a sleazeball, while Gene Hackman as always is good as a tough, but caring director. Richard Dreyfuss and Carl Reiner have cameos and the great character actress Mary Wickes has a hilarious bit as Suzanne's grandmother.BTW, my friend is still clean and sober after 20 years.

Carrie Fisher's bracingly candid and acerbically amusing commentary is definitely worth a listen when you watch this scabrous 1990 comedy, especially since she wrote the screenplay based on her first novel, which is turn, was based on her life as a drug-addicted movie actress who happens to the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. With the self-assured Mike Nichols at the helm, the picture is glossy and often smug in its insider's look of Hollywood, but it also has an emotionally resonant quality thanks mainly to the shrewdly observant interplay between Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine as mother and daughter. Streep plays Suzanne Vale, an actress successful enough to star in a cheesy action flick but spiraling out of control with her drug habit. In fact, she barely finishes a film for veteran director Lowell Korshack (an initially snappish Gene Hackman) who reads her the riot act on the set about her budget-escalating addiction.In the midst of a bleary-eyed one-night-stand, Suzanne becomes comatose from an overdose and is taken to the hospital where she gets her stomach pumped by a smitten doctor (a puppyish Richard Dreyfuss). She recovers and can work on her next picture only if she will live with her movie star mother Doris Mann to appease the insurance company. While the rest of the movie focuses on Suzanne's bumpy road toward recovery, the story really takes flight when it zeroes in on the prickly, dysfunctional relationship she has with Doris, a larger-than-life personality who means well as a mother but can't help being judgmental and competitive. Whether showing off her gams on a piano belting Sondheim's "I'm Still Here" or revealing her pathetically shorn head after an auto collision, MacLaine is spot-on in the role, probably the best among her latter-day performances after Aurora Greenway in "Terms of Endearment".Liberated from her parade of accents and period costumes, Streep seems at first too accomplished to be playing a second-rate actress, but she makes the bedraggled Suzanne likeably flawed. She also shows off an impressive singing voice with a couple of country-western numbers. Beyond Hackman and Dreyfuss, Dennis Quaid effectively plays an errant lover with smarmy panache, and there are nice near-cameos from Annette Bening as a flaky actress, Gary Morton as Suzanne's agent, Robin Bartlett as Suzanne's sardonic rehab roommate, CCH Pounder as an unctuous rehab counselor and Simon Callow as a two-faced director. In the studio scenes, Rob Reiner, Oliver Platt, Michael Ontkean and J.D. Souther provide even smaller bits. I just wish Fisher could have explored Suzanne's recovery beyond the fatherly pep talk from Korshack and the final moment of vulnerability from Doris. Beyond Fisher's commentary, the 2001 DVD contains partial filmographies for the principal players and several unrelated trailers.

POTCARDS FROM THE EDGE is a glittering all-star comedy based on the best selling book by Carrie Fisher that chronicles a particular difficult period in Fisher's life and her relationship with mom Debbie Reynolds. In this fictionalized version of the events in Fisher's life, Meryl Streep plays Suzanne, an actress who has just been released from rehab on the condition that she be under the custody and roof of her mother, a former actress (Shirley MacLaine) and what happens when she finally gets her first chance to work after coming out of rehab. This story is smart and funny and features a wonderful cast including Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss,Rob Reiner,Conrad Bain, Mary Wickes, Annette Bening, Gary Morton, and CCH Pounder, but it is really the amazing performances by Streep and MacLaine that make this movie work. Both ladies are also given opportunities to sing and make the most of them. The song "I"m Checkin' Out" which Meryl sings at the end of the movie, received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song as did Streep for Best Actress.