Isn't She Great
| Isn't She Great | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Andrew Bergman |
| Produced by | Mike Lobell |
| Written by |
Paul Rudnick Michael Korda (magazine article) |
| Starring |
Bette Midler Nathan Lane Stockard Channing David Hyde Pierce John Cleese John Larroquette Amanda Peet Christopher McDonald Debbie Shapiro Paul Benedict |
| Music by | Burt Bacharach |
| Cinematography | Karl Walter Lindenlaub |
| Edited by | Barry Malkin |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | January 28, 2000 |
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $44 million |
| Box office | $3,003,296 |
Isn't She Great is a 2000 American biographical film that presents a fictionalized biography of best-selling author Jacqueline Susann, played by Bette Midler. The film was directed by Andrew Bergman, with a screenplay by Paul Rudnick based on a 1995 New Yorker profile by Michael Korda. It was released by Universal Pictures.
The film covers Susann's entire life, focusing on her early struggles as an aspiring actress relentlessly hungry for fame, her relationship with press agent husband Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane), with whom she had an institutionalized autistic son, her success as the author of Valley of the Dolls, and her battle with and subsequent death from breast cancer. In addition to Midler and Lane, the film stars Stockard Channing as Susann's "gal pal" Florence Maybelle, David Hyde Pierce as book editor Michael Hastings, and John Cleese as publisher Henry Marcus. John Larroquette, Amanda Peet, Christopher McDonald, Debbie Shapiro, and Paul Benedict have supporting roles.
Opening in 750 US theaters on January 28, 2000, it was assaulted by the critics and shunned by the public, and earned only $3 million at the box office, far less than its cost of $44 million.[2] Midler was nominated for a Worst Actress Golden Raspberry Award.
Cast
- Bette Midler – Jacqueline Susann
- Nathan Lane – Irving Mansfield
- Stockard Channing – Florence Maybelle
- David Hyde Pierce – Michael Hastings
- John Cleese – Henry Marcus
- Amanda Peet – Debbie
- John Larroquette – Maury Manning
- Christopher McDonald – Brad Bradburn
- Dina Spybey – Bambi Madison
- Larry Block – Herbie
Production
The film was an international production, with the BBC, Lobell-Bergman Productions, Marbeni, Mutual Film Corporation, Tele-Munchen, Toho and Universal Pictures contributing, making it an American-British-German-Japanese co-production.[1] Despite the international production, the film was not released in Japan.[1]
Reception
Isn't She Great was panned by critics, as the film holds a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 61 reviews.
Awards and nominations
Nominations
- Razzie Awards: Worst Actress (Bette Midler)
Footnotes
- 1 2 3 Galbraith IV 2008, p. 413.
- ↑
References
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 1461673747.
External links
- Isn't She Great at the Internet Movie Database
- New York Times review
- San Francisco Chronicle review
- Roger Ebert review
- Rotten Tomatoes
- Isn't She Great at Box Office Mojo
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