Excellent but underrated film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Blistering performances.

I don't know why this movie doesn't get the attention it deserves. The first three times I watched it, I spat my drink all over my shirt. All punchlines are perfectly timed, the cast is amazing, and you can watch it over and over again, because there are so many jokes you will miss when you watch it the first time. Try it out, you will not regret it and have many funny evenings.

Wow. There are some big names in this film, and a fair amount of talent, but this was probably the wrong ensemble for an adaptation of Michael Frayn's witty farce. They may be well-known for their American sitcoms, but for the most part they did not succeed here.John Ritter (R.I.P.) is, sadly, so bad that he single-handedly ruined it for me. In the original, the actors are supposed to be amusingly inept, but he was just inept. I wish I could feel he was doing it on purpose, but he delivered his lines so badly that he ruined some very funny material. It's ridiculous to hear Christopher Reeve, plainly American, worrying about the Inland Revenue. If you're going to make it American, make it American. The gulf between Michael Caine, who delivered as always, and the other actors, who were unequal to the material, was too great. Carol Burnett was an exception, a great trouper, and Denholm Elliott was fine. Just a sad waste, matching talent with the wrong material.I wish someone would remake this film with different casting decisions.

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.

Fortunately, enough of the stage script survives its transfer to film that attentive viewers can tell why "Noises Off" remains one of the funniest farces ever to visit the Theatre.But somewhere along the way from stage to screen, "Noises Off" became calcified and entirely lost its edge. It's played broadly here by an able cast, all of whom clearly loved it on stage as well and now share the blame for this thoroughly noisy, but unfortunately moribund comedy show.Clearly, the film's severest critics in this conference are those (like myself) who enjoyed the show on stage in London or New York. If you didn't have that privilege, it may actually work to your advantage as you can come fresh to the film--and many, clearly, have enjoyed it tremendously. For myself, however, I remember laughing so hard in a Broadway theatre one night that my eyes flooded with tears. Didn't happen here, alas.