Syl Academy Award winners, Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine play a mother and daughter actress and singers in Hollywood, California. They are loosely based on Carrie Fisher's memoir about her life as the daughter of Debbie Reynolds. The film has great moments with Streep and Maclaine and mother and daughter. The cast is first rate. Mary Wickes who played Grandma was one of Hollywood's greatest character actresses. Conrad Bain played Grandpa. The film is about how Suzanne Vale must live with her mother, Doris Mann, while she is shooting with a film with an all-star cast and directed by Mike Nichols. Gene Hackman played the director. Richard Dreyfuss played the doctor. Carrie Fisher even has a cameo. Annette Bening made her film debut. Dennis Quaid displayed his ability to act with Streep. The film is fine and great to see Meryl Streep sing too. A must for Meryl Streep fans to see and wonder why she's marvelous Meryl Streep.

grantss Suzanne Vale is an actress...an actress with a drug problem. One day she overdoses and ends up in hospital and then rehab. After coming out of rehab she manages to land a role in a small-budget movie. The producers insist that she live with her mother for the duration of the movie, to ensure her sobriety. Her mother, the world-famous actress Doris Mann, is hardly the best role model...On paper, this movie had everything going for it: based on the semi- autobiographical novel by Carrie Fisher with screenplay also written by her, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Meryl Streep as Suzanne and Shirley MacLaine as Doris. With that semi-true-story background and those big names involved, surely it should be brilliant? Well, no. It's not bad, but it feels strangely flat. It's really just a linear story with no great drama or profundities, though there were plenty of opportunities for both.It does have its comedic moments but it's hardly a laugh-a-minute.Therein lies the problem, I suspect. By trying to be both a comedy and a drama it succeeds at neither.Not that this is a terrible movie, not by any means. It is never dull, moving along at a good pace, the ending is pretty good and Meryl Streep puts in a great performance (for which she got an Oscar nomination). It just could have been so much better.

bkoganbing Although the natural assumption is that when Carrie Fisher wrote her novel Postcards From The Edge she took her own story and that of her mother Debbie Reynolds. I'm sure a great deal of that story got into Fisher's work, but God only knows as a Hollywood kid she had plenty of other examples and role models to choose from. For myself I saw a bit of Joan and Christina Crawford there as well.One of Meryl Streep's numerous Oscar nominations is for Postcards From The Edge and she's a working actress and performer freshly out of a drug rehab and she returns to the house of her mother Shirley MacLaine who is a former film queen whose day is passed, but still takes on the airs of a star. Once a star always a star.These two have generational and personal issues. They can see each other's faults quite clearly, but can't see themselves. That's a bad combination, it leads to a lot of heartache with men and with substances.MacLaine and Streep play beautifully off each other, it's unfortunate that Streep got the Best Actress nomination and MacLaine received none. These are professionals working in joyous tandem.A lot of colleagues like Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss and others worked in small parts probably because they wanted to be associated with this project for one reason or another. My favorite was Mary Wickes playing MacLaine's small town hick mother. In just one hospital scene Wickes may have given her best performance since the put upon nurse in The Man Who Came To Dinner. A lot of territory between those two roles.Besides Streep's nomination Postcards From The Edge received a nomination for Best Song for I'm Checking Out. Streep delivers it in the best Patsy Cline type manner in the final scene. That woman has a lot of country in her.

Maddyclassicfilms Postcards From The Edge is directed by Mike Nichols,has a screenplay by Carrie Fisher based on her book and stars Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Gene Hackman, Dennis Quaid and Mary Wicke's.The film is based Carrie Fisher's life and her relationship with her mother Debbie Reynolds.It's a good mix of comedy and sadness with powerful performances especially from Meryl as the insecure actress.Suzanne Vale(Meryl Streep)is one of Hollywoods biggest stars and is on top of the world,there is a snag though she has a drug problem.After taking an overdose her boyfriend Jack Faulkner(Dennis Quaid)rushes her to hospital where her stomach is pumped by Dr Frankenthal(Richard Dreyfuss)who might just be the man she is meant to be in love with.She goes through rehab and gets clean,the root of her addiction lies with her overbearing and demanding mother Doris Mann(Shirley MacLaine).Doris has made her life hell and although she loves her she just can't stop picking at her and driving her further away.The film revolves around Suzanne's struggle to stay off drugs and try and get into a better place emotionally.Her only true friend in all of this is her favourite director Lowell Kolcheck(Gene Hackman)although a bit severe at times he teaches her to be stronger and stand up to her mother and is there when she needs a shoulder to cry on.Deeply moving and featuring some superb performances, Postcards From The Edge is a wonderful film.Meryl also gets to prove her singing skills here and they are very good.