To me, this movie is perfection.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Lemme start by saying that this film is by no means a perfect movie. As a product of it's time, a lot of the freewheeling sex and casual/rampant alcohol and drug use seem rather dated. In fact, it feels decidedly late-70's in that regard, despite it being a film that came out in 1981. But setting all of this aside, it's probably one of the best skewers of the Movie Industry you'll ever see. It's funny, raucous, profane, lewd, many things you would normally expect from a brilliant comedic director like Blake Edwards. But it also has it's bitter-sweet and tender moments, and it's packed-full of stars from the 60s thru the 80s giving some of their best performances in years...so much so that it feels more legitimate and honest in it's examination of the insanity and pretentiousness of Hollywood than any other film I've seen about the industry yet. I've often had folks argue with me that "The Player" is a better critique of the Hollywood machine than this film is. They may think that, but I really enjoyed this movie so much more. It's not nearly as self-congratulatory or as overtly ironic as "The Player"...I love Tim Robbins and what he does in that film, but I'd take 5 minutes of William Holden (in his final performance) over ANY actor in "The Player" any day of the week. If you are a Blake Edwards fan, I must warn you that this is NOT like his Pink Panther films. In fact, I think folks that aren't fans of his work might enjoy this film even more, because then you won't walk into this with any pre-conceived notions of what kind of humor to expect. Don't get me wrong, there's some serious slap-stick gags in this films, ones I still remember to this day. But it's real humor comes from it's hilarious dialogues and conversation, something you don't get nearly as much from his Pink Panther films. You cannot go wrong watching this film. Especially if you love Hollywood.

In this satirical look at Hollywood, a film producer tries to commit suicide after a big-budget flop, but then decides to reshoot it as porn. It has some very funny moments but runs out of steam long before its excessive running time. It boasts a terrific all-star cast, but Preston steals the film as a wise-cracking doctor. Andrews, playing a wholesome actress not unlike herself, flashes her breasts in an attempt to boost the box office of the reshot film. Mulligan plays her husband, presumably modeled after Edwards. In his final film, Holden plays a hard-drinking, hedonistic director. In a sad irony, the actor drank himself to death months after the film was released.

One of the curious things about S.O.B. is that while it has an incredibly good name cast, there is no real star of the film. Julie Andrews gets first billing because she's the director/producer's wife and after her William Holden has the biggest marquee name so he's second. But if there's a star in this film it's Richard Mulligan because it's on his troubles that the plot of S.O.B. turns.Mulligan came in for a lot of criticism as the frantic film producer who after a string of hits, totally loses his mind. So much so that his movie star wife, Julie Andrews, is leaving him. The first half of the film involve some hilarious attempts at suicide, the best being when he falls through the floor of his beach house trying to hang himself and flattens nosy gossip columnist Loretta Swit. Julie Andrews is basically cast as a movie star like Julie Andrews who gained her fame and popularity with wholesome entertainment like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. During an orgy/party that his good friend, cheerfully hedonistic director William Holden has at Mulligan's house while on suicide watch, Mulligan gets a brainstorm and decides to redo his last G rated film as soft core porn with Julie Andrews displaying her glockenspiels. Mulligan gets crazier and crazier as the film now becomes a battle between him and studio head Robert Vaughn for control of the film. It all ends quite wildly indeed. A lot of people say Richard Mulligan overacts and chews the scenery. But that's what the part calls for. He no more does it here than Robin Williams or Jonathan Winters at their zaniest. A little fine tuning in his performance might have helped, but the director who should have done this was busy elsewhere.Instead of Blake Edwards doing it himself, he should have begged Billy Wilder to do this film. S.O.B. is the greatest Billy Wilder film that Billy Wilder never directed.Besides those mentioned such luminaries as Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Marisa Berenson, Stuart Margolin, Craig Stevens, Paul Stewart, Larry Hagman and Robert Loggia play various Hollywood types. But the best by far in the cast is Robert Preston as the Doctor Feelgood to the stars. It's a variation on the conman Harold Hill he played in The Music Man only he's far more cynical. When Preston is on screen, he dominates the film.S.O.B. was the farewell performance of William Holden. Knowing the senseless way Holden died after completing the film, you twinge when you hear him cheerfully tell Richard Mulligan how he drank enough booze to kill a dozen healthy livers. Still S.O.B. was a good film to leave on for him.I enjoy what Blake Edwards did with the talented bunch he assembled for this film. It would have been perfect if Billy Wilder had done it though.

Although it's been quite a long time since I last saw the movie, some scenes will always remain present and lively in my mind: Felix Farmer trying to kill himself in that big house crowded with party guests who have only one thing in mind, sex, which finally inspires him to re-launch his life and his movie; and his final voyage on the back seat of a car (if I get it right) through Los Angeles, now really dead, to a Normannic funeral. Besides all the big names, we should never forget Richard Mulligan, a great comedian who sadly passed away five years ago, who is really the heart of this wonderfully messy, funny, intelligent movie.