By Peter Bogdanovich, 1992.
Starring Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott, Julie Hagerty, Marilu Henner, Mark Linn-Baker, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Nicollette Sheridan.
Rating: 9/10, 6/10.
I have rarely enjoyed watching a movie as much as I did Noises Off..., and I have a horrific amount of respect for the director, writer, and cast (yes, including Reeve and Ritter), and yet I can’t help but feel that the film somehow missed its mark. I think maybe what it is is that it’s just too talky.
The concept, basically, is that Michael Caine is directing a new British sex comedy play, and the film follows the tension between the needs of the play and the needs of the soap-operaish cast. We see the play I believe three times, never in its entirety: once during rehearsal, once at the opening, and once towards the end of its long tour. These sequences are perfect, especially the last one, with most of the action, happening backstage, occurring in silence. The problem comes in the interludes between them, with sappy, contrived voice-overs by Caine.
However, this is such a minor problem that it’s very easy to disregard it and just look at the rest of the movie, which is flawless.