Director Lloyd Fellowes (Michael Caine) is panicking over the Broadway opening of his play "Nothing On". The movie flashes back to the final dress rehearsal in Des Moines, Iowa six months ago. Actress Dotty Otley (Carol Burnett) has put her life savings into the play and brought in senile alcoholic mentor Selsdon Mowbray (Denholm Elliott). She's sleeping with younger co-star Garry Lejeune (John Ritter). Frederic Dallas (Christopher Reeve) is questioning every move after his wife left him. Lloyd is sleeping with clueless Brooke Ashton (Nicollette Sheridan) who keeps losing her contacts but he's also sleeping with stage manager Poppy Taylor (Julie Hagerty). Belinda Blair (Marilu Henner) rounds out the cast in the play and Tim Allgood (Mark Linn-Baker) is the stagehand worked to the bone. Later, there is the famous matinée in Miami Beach where everything goes haywire as relationships blow up.The play within the movie is a rather unfunny British farce. That may be the point of the movie but it's not funny to watch. It's a lot of slamming doors, running around and people speaking in various levels of semi-British accents. In contrast, the behind the scenes with Noises Off is a frantic fun ride. It's a throwback to the silent era slapstick and it's wonderful. I may not be following everything but it's loads of fun anyways. It's a great 20 minutes but the rest is not as much fun.

"Noises Off" is based on a popular play. Directed by Peter Bogdonavich, it tells the story of a bedroom farce, "Nothing On," which is, in fact, a dud of a play - and what goes on backstage and on-stage as the actors rehearse, play out of town, and open on Broadway. Thanks to break-ups, jealousies, and drunkenness, the offstage happenings spill over into the play, as the actors grow to hate one another more and more. Anyone with experience in theater will love it the most, but it's fun for everyone.The cast is top-notch - Michael Caine is the harried director, and the stars of the "play" are Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Marilu Henner, Nicolette Sheridan, Mark-Linn Baker, and Denholm Elliott. Julie Hagerty is the near-hysterical stage manager.There's a lot of slapstick and much "actor talk" with the actors searching for motivations; there's a drunk actor (Elliott) who pops up from time to time asking if it's his cue yet. (Soon, the cast finds his stash of booze and start chugalugging themselves.) Caine is terrific as a Valium-popping director driven to near-madness. The play is much better than the film, even though the film is terribly funny.Unfortunately, for me anyway, it's just terribly sad to see handsome, robust Christopher Reeve walking around and the talented, deceased John Ritter. Boy, life sure has some same twists. So does "Noises Off" - but unlike some of life's twists, these twists are accompanied by plenty of belly laughs.

I have seen this movie a number of times but I never left my feedback. But I have to say something on one of the most creative and innovative movies ever to be made. How they all can remember not only their lines, but direction and substance is phenomenal! Whether you want to get into theater or films you should, no, you HAVE to see this movie! It is amazingly scripted, acted and a laugh non-stop masterpiece! Ritter, Reeves and Elliot who are no longer with us (a crying shame for the entertainment industry) was impeccable, even when they mucked up. I wonder how much rehearsal and takes it took to get it right? Being an aspiring actress myself this will definitely go in my vault of favorites. Run, don't walk to your closest video store and BUY this movie! I PROMISE you, you will NOT regret it!

Having seen this twice as a stage production (and by two different companies!), I have to say that you are really better off seeing it done on stage. The film is good, but it actually suffers by comparison. I think a part of the reason might be that I HAD seen it previously, so that it did not hit me like it may hit most first-timers, and also that I had high expectations for it. But I think it actually works better on a real stage. The timing becomes REAL in a way that the known proficiency of camera technique is not able to match. This is a psychological effect, to be sure, but it cannot be discounted. Film editing, splicing, etc, along with retakes up to the necessary hilt are factors in the back of our mind in the watching of any film. But when this play is effectively performed in the get-it-right necessity of a real-life production, the effect is actually overpowering, and the humor is stunning. Go see it on stage if you get the chance.That is really all I have to say about it, but since ten lines of text are required (which must be a new requirement, because many of the comments I've seen appear to be much shorter) I guess I'll just have to keep going . . . or else this very significant review will never get out there for you to see. It feels sort of like having to keep a filibuster going, in which they just talk about anything in order to use up time. A rather stupid rule, I should say. A good writer hardly needs to extend his wordage. I mean, I've said it as I wanted to say it.