Who'd think after "The French Lt.'s Woman", "Sophie's Choice" and "Out of Africa" that Meryl Streep could be funny? The "Queen of 80's accents" decided to change her image a bit and did some comedies like "She-Devil" and "Postcards From the Edge", throwing in this rambunctious farce for good measure. She is one of the most vane actresses on Broadway and in Hollywood, starring in a horrendous musical version of "Sweet Bird of Youth", comically called "Songbird!". (You know an explanation point had to be in there somewhere...) The musical is so bad that after walking out of the Broadway show into the mid-town Manhattan rain, the playbill with Streep's photo on it ends up in the middle of the street. Up there with "The Producer's" "Springtime For Hitler" and "The Tall Guy's" "Elephant Man" spoof, "Songbird!" takes spoofing of bad musical theater to a deliciously low level of tackiness.
From the outrageous musical opening that lampoons bad Broadway musicals (of which there were plenty of in the 1970's and early 80's) to the murder mystery parody she stars in for which overweight rival Goldie Hawn rewinds her murder scene over and over again just to smile in glee at the thought of the woman who stole her fiancée (Bruce Willis, made up to look like Martin Mull) being murdered. Hawn, once a thin frump, blew up to the size of a hippopotamus, living off of cake frosting and vowing revenge. Streep has grown older, goes to the opening of an envelope for publicity purposes, and is stunned at one such event when she runs into the now beautifully svelte Hawn whom she is sure will seek revenge to get Willis (whom she hates!) back. Murder is plotted, deaths occur, and before you know it, thanks to a mysterious potion, Streep is looking 20 years younger. But with this beauty coming at a price, Streep, Hawn and Willis find their fates tied together in a way they never thought could be.
Brilliant special effects and outrageous performances make this comedy one of the best modern farces. The cast is obviously having a blast, and the spoof of Hollywood vanity by Hollywood itself, is an ironic delight. To see the beautifully zany Hawn not only in an obvious fat suit but her face made up to look enormous as well is one of the best visual sights of recent times. Isabella Rossellini has a wonderful smaller role as the guru/devil woman who makes references to allegedly dead stars who simply vanished off the face of the earth thanks to her potion. A few of them appear in a party sequence which makes you wonder how many of these narcissistic people may have suffered similar fates to what happened to Streep and Hawn. Director Sydney Pollack has a hysterical cameo as Streep's doctor after she falls down the stairs. ("Oopsy!") "General Hospital's" John Ingle (the final Edward Quartermain) makes another brief splash as the minister in the final scene, describing one of the characters with such outrageous dramatics that Hawn and Streep couldn't help but take notice.
As directed by Robert Zemickis, every detail is perfect, even if the theme is extremely mean-spirited, and totally unafraid of its cruelty. This is one of those films that you can't believe the creative mind could come up with, so half the laughs are more out of shock, and that adds even more amusement to the proceedings. Some of the sound effects (one involving a fall down the stairs) will make your spine shiver. At times, the film seems to enjoy slamming the Hollywood ego, but there are other times when it also seems to be full of ego itself. In retrospect, it makes the balance between sanity and insanity over aging an obsession that grows into an evil fungus inside these character's hearts that is as self-destructive as drugs and alcohol. Spoofing various situations that real people only get hints of through all those outrageously pretentious award shows really makes you think what a sad life some celebrities must lead when they can't separate their own public image and real personality. Throw in an exit line at the very end that is right up there with Joe E. Brown's response to Jack Lemmon at the end of "Some Like It Hot".
From the outrageous musical opening that lampoons bad Broadway musicals (of which there were plenty of in the 1970's and early 80's) to the murder mystery parody she stars in for which overweight rival Goldie Hawn rewinds her murder scene over and over again just to smile in glee at the thought of the woman who stole her fiancée (Bruce Willis, made up to look like Martin Mull) being murdered. Hawn, once a thin frump, blew up to the size of a hippopotamus, living off of cake frosting and vowing revenge. Streep has grown older, goes to the opening of an envelope for publicity purposes, and is stunned at one such event when she runs into the now beautifully svelte Hawn whom she is sure will seek revenge to get Willis (whom she hates!) back. Murder is plotted, deaths occur, and before you know it, thanks to a mysterious potion, Streep is looking 20 years younger. But with this beauty coming at a price, Streep, Hawn and Willis find their fates tied together in a way they never thought could be.
Brilliant special effects and outrageous performances make this comedy one of the best modern farces. The cast is obviously having a blast, and the spoof of Hollywood vanity by Hollywood itself, is an ironic delight. To see the beautifully zany Hawn not only in an obvious fat suit but her face made up to look enormous as well is one of the best visual sights of recent times. Isabella Rossellini has a wonderful smaller role as the guru/devil woman who makes references to allegedly dead stars who simply vanished off the face of the earth thanks to her potion. A few of them appear in a party sequence which makes you wonder how many of these narcissistic people may have suffered similar fates to what happened to Streep and Hawn. Director Sydney Pollack has a hysterical cameo as Streep's doctor after she falls down the stairs. ("Oopsy!") "General Hospital's" John Ingle (the final Edward Quartermain) makes another brief splash as the minister in the final scene, describing one of the characters with such outrageous dramatics that Hawn and Streep couldn't help but take notice.
As directed by Robert Zemickis, every detail is perfect, even if the theme is extremely mean-spirited, and totally unafraid of its cruelty. This is one of those films that you can't believe the creative mind could come up with, so half the laughs are more out of shock, and that adds even more amusement to the proceedings. Some of the sound effects (one involving a fall down the stairs) will make your spine shiver. At times, the film seems to enjoy slamming the Hollywood ego, but there are other times when it also seems to be full of ego itself. In retrospect, it makes the balance between sanity and insanity over aging an obsession that grows into an evil fungus inside these character's hearts that is as self-destructive as drugs and alcohol. Spoofing various situations that real people only get hints of through all those outrageously pretentious award shows really makes you think what a sad life some celebrities must lead when they can't separate their own public image and real personality. Throw in an exit line at the very end that is right up there with Joe E. Brown's response to Jack Lemmon at the end of "Some Like It Hot".