I just watched this movie for the second time and it's still just as funny as it was the first time. It's too bad this TV movie isn't better remembered. The actors all seem to be having a good time, spoofing just about every TV movie cliché the scriptwriter could think of and insert into a 90 minute movie. Morgan Fairchild handles the leading role quite well. I've read some less-than-complimentary reviews on her performances in other movies and telefilms, but she's good in this one. Morgan F. proves to have some comic timing and I found this to be an entertaining way to spend 90 minutes (twice). You can read other comments to find out the plot to this, but the bottom line is: This is a funny movie with many more gags that work than most films, TV or theatrical, of this type. Heck, I may even watch this a third time.
8 Reviews
In the Naked Gun mold, albeit too silly sometimes.
formula44xxx8 September 1999
I love Naked Gun-type comedies, but these days they are very hard to come by. Those that are made (Mafia!, Wrongfully Accused, Spy Hard) are usually pretty bad (not to mention unfunny). This one was surprisingly good, has a solid cast of pros (Morgan Fairchild, Ricki Lake, Harvey Korman, Victoria Jackson, Dyan Cannon), and pretty good gags. it does get pretty silly sometimes, but it's still much better than the 3 above-mentioned clones. And to think this was made for TV!
The Power. The Passion. The Perfume.
itsmrbigtoyou2 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Real life stories and events from popular television-movies are spoofed in this outrageous comedy. Satin Chau (Morgan Fairchild) is a brilliant perfume mogul with a scent for money, power and fame. She's got it all, including a suave husband, Remo (Robert Goulet), a supportive mentor, Varda (Dyan Cannon), and a nose for what the public wants.
But tragedy strikes when she loses her sense of smell, and the only ones who can save her are two separated-at-birth-sisters, Velour (Ricki Lake) and Corduroy (Victoria Jackson). Now she must set out on a wild cross-country trek to reunite her family.
It's a madcap misadventure for the senses as Satin's always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and sniffing out endless clichés, all which are "Based On An Untrue Story."
90 minutes, Color, 1993.
But tragedy strikes when she loses her sense of smell, and the only ones who can save her are two separated-at-birth-sisters, Velour (Ricki Lake) and Corduroy (Victoria Jackson). Now she must set out on a wild cross-country trek to reunite her family.
It's a madcap misadventure for the senses as Satin's always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and sniffing out endless clichés, all which are "Based On An Untrue Story."
90 minutes, Color, 1993.
From moron to Mensa, the movie has appeal... to some extent
Gerbil-82 August 1999
I got a screening version of this movie for free, don't ask me how, and I watched it. It was awesome! Just completely stupid from the ethnically mismatched names to the obvious and redundant running gags. The entire film is acted so perfectly as Fairchild brilliantly spoofs her own genre of film: the television movie. It has all the classic elements in all their glory, not needing really to draw off much else for comedy since the entire tv film industry is absurd anyway. It's worth watching for free, I'll let you borrow the tape sometime :) Look out for it in the 99 cent rental section and watch it with a big group of people who like that kind of movie.
This is for lovers of OVER-THE-TOP comedy!
crumbchris22 December 2002
This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I laugh out loud throughout every time I watch this. Morgan Fairchild revealed a side of herself I'm sure no one knew she had. She is quite a gifted comedienne! And, Dyan Cannon and Harvey Korman are at the top of their game here. Throw in great talents like Ricki Lake, Mo Gaffney and Victoria Jackson, and what more could you ask for? This movie is a laugh a minute. The costuming and art direction are especially top-notch. For those who love to laugh out loud, this one's for you. Just as funny as "Scary Movie" or "Airplane!"
When crazy gets lazy !
elshikh427 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A hard and cold serial killer of readers. A teacher who killed her husband, works as a stripper, and has a kids' kidnapper-phobia. A rich perfume creator who lost her sense of smell. A genius ex-detective who now addicts to anything. And an old man from a soap opera who does nothing but having sex. Now the plot is to gather this bunch of maniacs while the journey of the lead to find her 2 sisters, mother, and someone of them to donate a nerve to her, all in just 3 days!
Here the TV mocks at itself, since this is a TV movie that parodies TV movies, TV ads, TV news, and - most of all - the over the top melodrama of the TV soap operas at the time. It makes no sense yet enjoyably like a cartoon. So I accepted that (Morgan Fairchild) became a lawyer in one day, or how (Ricki Lake) and (Victoria Jackson) were her twin sisters, as long as the wall clock was moving backwards!
The unbelievably melodramatic story is so clever for a spoof (the ironic title said it subtly). The dialogue was hilarious; I didn't hear something like that since let's say the 1930s. And when (Fairchild) gets new flashy outfit every single scene, it doesn't contrast cynically with her doleful dilemma only, it ridicules many stars of soaps at the moment too.
(Fairchild) isn't a comic lead, with a silly presence of a doll, but she did her ultimate best, and that surprisingly worked. (Harvey Korman) was (Harvey Korman) and that's a good thing. (Ricki Lake) is a talented comedienne, so she didn't need to steal the scenes by lousy tricks sometimes. And (Victoria Jackson) was the most tender and idiot black widow ever!
Now to the negative side. The movie creates some gags, however to worn them out awfully. I mean the scary caller's calls, the "works as a topless dancer" laughs, the (Korman)'s flashback warnings, and how (Fairchild) smells something wrong, screams, and then faints. With overusing them, they ran out of beauty early, to end up as predictable, monotonous, and unfunny.
(Fairchild) seems older than her character. While the doctor attacks her fake Asian parents: "Did you want to delay telling her the truth till she's 40?!", she was actually 43! Nurse "Love" wasn't that comedic. How the men were falling in love with the chauffeur was ugly. The TV news parts weren't amusing or smartly used, being more of a black comedy instead. And the last scene of regathering the whole cast dragged a bit.
I hated the endless fade-outs; they were like "put commercials here", now that's something that this movie suffers from, and forgot to spoof. Plus it missed the action; I don't know why they didn't use that strange caller well enough. It ends pretty short, especially when we didn't savor these nutty characters to their utmost.
Now to a thing that I extremely hated. Making a young and handsome character with the name "crack", who can seduce everybody instantly, is just a shameless publicity for crack cocaine, as something sexy and irresistible! It's shocking since this takes place in what you can call a harmless TV fun from the early 1990s. And it says a lot about what the movie's makers desire, and how their conscience work (or should I say doesn't work!). Sadly under the name of comedy, many movies beautify the wrong message. And despite looking more decent than others, this movie commits a nasty and dangerous act.
All in all, it's a spoof movie that has a fair amount of craziness. However, it gets somehow lazy in the way, and turns eventually into a long TV sketch, with bore more than creativity.
Here the TV mocks at itself, since this is a TV movie that parodies TV movies, TV ads, TV news, and - most of all - the over the top melodrama of the TV soap operas at the time. It makes no sense yet enjoyably like a cartoon. So I accepted that (Morgan Fairchild) became a lawyer in one day, or how (Ricki Lake) and (Victoria Jackson) were her twin sisters, as long as the wall clock was moving backwards!
The unbelievably melodramatic story is so clever for a spoof (the ironic title said it subtly). The dialogue was hilarious; I didn't hear something like that since let's say the 1930s. And when (Fairchild) gets new flashy outfit every single scene, it doesn't contrast cynically with her doleful dilemma only, it ridicules many stars of soaps at the moment too.
(Fairchild) isn't a comic lead, with a silly presence of a doll, but she did her ultimate best, and that surprisingly worked. (Harvey Korman) was (Harvey Korman) and that's a good thing. (Ricki Lake) is a talented comedienne, so she didn't need to steal the scenes by lousy tricks sometimes. And (Victoria Jackson) was the most tender and idiot black widow ever!
Now to the negative side. The movie creates some gags, however to worn them out awfully. I mean the scary caller's calls, the "works as a topless dancer" laughs, the (Korman)'s flashback warnings, and how (Fairchild) smells something wrong, screams, and then faints. With overusing them, they ran out of beauty early, to end up as predictable, monotonous, and unfunny.
(Fairchild) seems older than her character. While the doctor attacks her fake Asian parents: "Did you want to delay telling her the truth till she's 40?!", she was actually 43! Nurse "Love" wasn't that comedic. How the men were falling in love with the chauffeur was ugly. The TV news parts weren't amusing or smartly used, being more of a black comedy instead. And the last scene of regathering the whole cast dragged a bit.
I hated the endless fade-outs; they were like "put commercials here", now that's something that this movie suffers from, and forgot to spoof. Plus it missed the action; I don't know why they didn't use that strange caller well enough. It ends pretty short, especially when we didn't savor these nutty characters to their utmost.
Now to a thing that I extremely hated. Making a young and handsome character with the name "crack", who can seduce everybody instantly, is just a shameless publicity for crack cocaine, as something sexy and irresistible! It's shocking since this takes place in what you can call a harmless TV fun from the early 1990s. And it says a lot about what the movie's makers desire, and how their conscience work (or should I say doesn't work!). Sadly under the name of comedy, many movies beautify the wrong message. And despite looking more decent than others, this movie commits a nasty and dangerous act.
All in all, it's a spoof movie that has a fair amount of craziness. However, it gets somehow lazy in the way, and turns eventually into a long TV sketch, with bore more than creativity.
Too Funny For Words!
dream-warrior20015 August 2001
I remember seeing this movie when it first aired some odd 10 years ago on FOX. It was made for TV as a spoof on all of those made for TV movies that are based on true life stories. Morgan Fairchild and Dyan Cannon light up the screen with comic relief. Fairchild portrays Satin Chow, a woman who is about to unveil her new scent - Puppy, when she loses her ability to smell anything, except minor scents like GLASS! As time goes on, Satin is informed that she will need a transplant from one of her 2 sisters, or her mother, which she never knew she had. Satin hires a washed up down on his luck private investigator to track down these 3 women for her with only one photograph of her mother, who resembles Crystal Gale, and the 2 of the 3 babies that she is holding in the photo. Ricki Lake portrays Velour, a hardened convict that was "wrongfully" accused of murder(s). Victoria Jackson portrays Corduroy, a former teacher accused of hiring a student to murder her husband, whom she now lives with. There are so many twists and turns including the baby in the recycling bin, a misguided Satin who can NEVER pronounce Detective Caprawolski's name correctly, and a cheating husband that seems to be able to have sex with his clothes on. This movie will have your side hurting from laughter. It IS available on video, but it is VERY hard to find as it was put on moratorium a few years back, but check your video stores, that is where I found my copy for $2.99. Also, check eBay. You're bound to find it on there! :)
Female Types parodied
manuel-pestalozzi2 December 2005
For some reason I tended to assume that the art of parody is mainly a male domain because of PC, because women prefer other kinds of humor, whatever. This very amusing movie proved me wrong. The female stars have this well paced (male scripted) affair very much under their control. The results are truly hilarious. The jokes just keep coming, and now I definitely know it's true that a bad joke can become a good one if you just repeat it often enough - and that when you run your finger along a sharpened blade you might get hurt ...
Three sisters represent different types of women: Satan it's Satin! the energetic ambitious and (if it's necessary) ruthless businesswoman, Velour the self pitying masculine social misfit, Corduroy the down to earth Mother Courage". They really are the best there is in the field this side of Madeline Kahn. A lot of the fun is made at the expense of women induced rituals as presented in TV serials and talk shows. Unexpected turns of events abound and there are many occasions for true emotional distress, not least a baby in a bin. Yet in the end the urge for harmony and reconciliation in the group this very basic female aim is amply satisfied. The movie gets great male support by Harvey Korman and Dan Hedaya.
Three sisters represent different types of women: Satan it's Satin! the energetic ambitious and (if it's necessary) ruthless businesswoman, Velour the self pitying masculine social misfit, Corduroy the down to earth Mother Courage". They really are the best there is in the field this side of Madeline Kahn. A lot of the fun is made at the expense of women induced rituals as presented in TV serials and talk shows. Unexpected turns of events abound and there are many occasions for true emotional distress, not least a baby in a bin. Yet in the end the urge for harmony and reconciliation in the group this very basic female aim is amply satisfied. The movie gets great male support by Harvey Korman and Dan Hedaya.
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