ISN’T SHE GREAT

Based on an article in NEW YORKER magazine by Michael Korda, ISN’T SHE GREAT is a loose biography of best-selling author Jacqueline Susann (VALLEY OF THE DOLLS). Bette Midler plays the part of this flamboyant character with wit and charm, although she uses the “f’ word a few times in a couple crucial scenes (one of the reasons for the movie’s R-rating). Comic actor Nathan Lane (THE BIRDCAGE) plays Susann’s loving husband and business agent.

The story of Susann’s life unfolds as Jackie’s show business career hits a low point, with no one recognizing her talents, modest though they be. To her rescue comes Irving Mansfield (Nathan Lane), an agent and publicist who believes in Jackie and asks her to marry him because he has loved her practically ever since he saw her. Irving sets out on a mission to get Jackie back into show business and to get her what she desires most in life – fame.

After exploring every angle and coming up empty handed, Irving suddenly has a brainstorm. He thinks Jackie should write what she knows best – the sleazy side of show business. His wife takes to the idea and becomes totally engrossed in her writing. At this point, the light romantic comedy in the movie turns to a few one-line jokes about the sleazy sex in the novel Jackie is writing (another reason for the movie’s R-rating).

With the continued support of her husband and best friend, Flo, played by Stockard Channing, Jackie finishes her novel. After many rejections, she lands a deal with a publisher, Henry Marcus, played by John Cleese of MONTY PYTHON fame. Henry, however, gives her an uptight and rigid editor, Michael, played by David Hyde Pierce of TV’s FRASER. Michael thinks her manuscript is salacious, soft-core pornography, but has trouble getting her to work with him to improve it. He takes her to his mother’s house in Connecticut, where he discovers that his upper crust New England relatives really enjoy reading Jackie’s novel VALLEY OF THE DOLLS about the sleazy goings-on among Hollywood’s elite. He also discovers that Jackie secretly has breast cancer.

Eventually, Jackie and Irving develop a whole new approach to selling books by traveling the country and visiting as many bookstores, large and small, as they can. Her book becomes a huge hit, and the soft-porn, gossipy romance novel is born. Most important of all, at least to Jackie, is that she finally achieves her dream of being famous.

During ISN’T SHE GREAT, Jackie’s perseverance and determination is tested not only by her and Irving’s severely autistic son but also by Jackie’s development of breast cancer. These are subjects, however, that she keeps from all but her closest friends. That is ironic, especially because of the fact that she achieves her fame by writing a thinly veiled expose of what really happens behind the scenes in Hollywood.

ISN’T SHE GREAT is an entertaining movie that exaggerates Jacqueline Susann’s colorful personality and lightly addresses society’s addiction to celebrity gossip. The movie is well cast, especially in allowing Bette Midler and Nathan Lane to flourish. Both of them are convincing. The supporting players also help the movie, including Pierce and Channing who are themselves perfect in their respective roles.

This movie pokes fun at society’s curiosity in the hedonistic lives of some celebrities. In doing so, it may force some viewers to ask themselves why people have such a need to live vicariously through these celebrities. There is a scene in the movie where a Roman Catholic nun surreptitiously reads VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Later, she is joined by other nuns who, fantastically, appear at a dinner honoring Jackie. Thus, the movie finds humor in people’s curiosity about celebrities, even though it doesn’t really deal with the subject in anything but a lighthearted way.

ISN’T SHE GREAT also treats Jackie’s quest for fame in a lighthearted manner. This is a movie that primarily wants to be funny. It is not a movie that is meant to explore such issues in a particularly deep or insightful manner. Still, Jackie and Irving, despite their shallow lifestyle, have a certain joyful zest for life. And, when tragedy strikes their family in the form of their autistic son and Jackie’s breast cancer, they display a depth of moral character and compassion that belies their hedonistic interest in becoming famous and revealing gossip about the private sexual lifestyles of celebrities.

Regrettably, however, when the nominally Jewish Jackie and Irving talk to God in several scenes, their pleas to the Creator are too often selfish ones. ISN’T SHE GREAT also seems to validate the sleaze that Jacqueline Susann’s novels helped bring to the publishing world in the “liberated” 1960s. That sleazy quality eventually found its way into our movies. It also may have done a great deal to help Cultural Marxism succeed in its politically-correct war against the alleged “sexual repression” of Judeo-Christian morality. ISN’T SHE GREAT accepts this, and even celebrates it.

Consequently, while the movie may not be totally evil perhaps, it has so many objectionable elements in its worldview that it goes over the edge in terms of moral and spiritual acceptability. This is a shame because director Andrew Bergman (THE FRESHMAN and HONEYMOON IN VEGAS) has a flair for light, wacky comedy with a satirical bent. Such talent can be steered toward the good, the true and the beautiful, as many people, including some comedy writers, have often shown. Recent examples of such work are TOY STORY 2, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and the children’s Christian video series, VEGGIE TALES.