A 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, adapted by Carrie Fisher from her own semi-autobigraphical 1987 novel of the same name about a recovering addict actress (Meryl Streep) who is forced to move in with her mother (Shirley MacLaine).
The movie also stars Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Rob Reiner, Mary Wickes, Annette Bening, Conrad Bain, and Simon Callow.
It was released on September 14, 1990.
Tropes for the film:
- Calling the Old Man Out: A Gender Flipped version - about two-thirds of the way through the movie, Suzanne rails against Doris for how she treated her growing up (as well as Doris' alcoholism), including what Doris did at Suzanne's birthday party (see Going Commando below).
- The Film of the Book: Based on Fisher's book of the same name.
- Freudian Excuse: We see Doris as a My Beloved Smother as well with Suzanne's grandmother, which helps explain why Doris treated Suzanne the way she did.
- Going Commando: Implied. Suzanne Vale rails on her mother, Doris Mann for lifting her skirt up at Suzanne's get-together. Doris states she twirled it up, and Suzanne points out Doris wasn't wearing underwear.
- I Lied: During a bitter argument Suzanne is having with Jack, after Jack says she was a lot more fun the night they were first together (when she overdosed), she says, "I thought you said we didn't do anything that night," to which he responds, "I lied."
- I'll Kill You!: After Lowell realize Suzanne's drug use was what ruined the take he just shot (see The Oner below), he tells Suzanne, "You fuck up my shot again, I'll kill you."
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: The counsellor asks Suzanne "This anger isn't about me. Who are you really angry with?" Then Doris arrives.
- It's All About Me: Doris is extraordinarily vain and self-absorbed, even by aging Hollywood diva standards, to the extent of providing a reasonable Freudian Excuse for Suzanne and her problems. The main subtexts here are Suzanne trying to cope with how much her mother has messed up her life, and trying to get her mother to have a Heel Realization about her self-centered, manipulative behavior.
- The Oner: The movie starts with a scene lampshading this practice; a misspoken line threatens to ruin the entire shot.
- Proscenium Reveal: Suzanne flubbing a line during The Oner during the opening.
- Roman à Clef: Carrie Fisher fictionalizes things in an entertaining and poignant way, but it's unapologetically about her and her relationship with her mother Debbie Reynolds.
- Shout-Out: Suzanne and Jack re-enact a scene from The Philadelphia Story (the one where James Stewart explains why he didn't do anything to Katharine Hepburn while she was drunk), which they promptly lampshade when Suzanne remembers Stewart doing in a movie and Jack doing a Stewart impression.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: After a fight with her mother, Suzanne takes some pills, but on her way to work, she pulls over and vomits them out, though she's hiding behind her car door.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Deconstructed with Doris, and lampshaded with her performance of "I'm Still Here
" from Follies.
