edwagreen Julie Kavner of the "Rhoda" television show is just wonderful here. She is basically a Jewish Phyllis Diller who gains fame at the same time she neglects her daughters.This film is really a tribute to the women who became stand up comics years before.As we see in so many films, success has its disadvantages as well, as both young girls leave in a frenzy to seek out the father who abandoned them years before. After seeing him, they realize that a mother is still a mother.Carly Simon sings the background music throughout the film and she is an absolute treat to hear.

STLmoviewatcher I loved this movie when it first came out, and the 3 or 4 times that I have seen it since then. I really identified with the single mom with two kids trying to balance life and work. I was doing the same thing then! It reminded me that if you can find something funny about a difficult time in your life, you may be more able to get through it. Family is everything to Dottie and her kids, and the still unresolved issues at the end are fine, since life usually just continues and not every problem can be resolved at the same time. I recommend this movie to anyone who is trying to balance family and a career and a love life! It made me cry and laugh at the same time!

ltlacey I do not know why this movie is rated so low. It's an endearing and funny film told to the audience from the perspective of 2 people: The mother and the eldest daughter. The mother, Dottie, played nicely by Julie Kavner, is a single mother of 2 who is working hard to support her daughters as well as to try her hand at stand-up comedy. Kavner, best known now as the voice of Marge Simpson on the TV show The Simpsons, is actually quite funny as she uses her entire body in her work. And it's nice to see someone make it in a field that seems, at least for women, to only reward those who fit a specific physical model. In this movie she's perfect. It's like the role was made for her. Samantha Mathis, as the eldest daughter Erica, plays the role of the angst-filled teenager perfectly. What to do when you love your mother so much but she causes so much grief and embarrassment? And Gaby Hoffman as the youngest, Opal, is right on, as usual. The eye rolling, the mixing up of what people said (fidgety versus frigid), and her total faith in her mother and sister ring true. Dan Aykroyd as The Moss, though his part is small, works well, especially in the the scene where Dottie is fighting with Erica and all he does is sit quietly (and maybe eat more paper!) as the "tornadoes" whoosh by. And one of the funniest scenes ever is the typical "first time" between Erica and Jordan (played so well by Danny Zorn). While this scene is happening the background music is Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, which makes it even funnier and made me laugh so hard I almost fell on the floor, especially when it was all over and Jordan says, It's over and Erica says, It is? And a quick poll of my male friends and husband verified that the experience with the condom(s) was right on the money, even down to the facial expressions. A refreshing movie with very few flaws with a good script and a good cast.

fandangonoir This is a not so good flick about an aspiring and unfunny stand up comedienne. There is a great little subplot involving the Sam Mathis character and her dopey boyfriend. Ending in a very funny and daring love scene. I would have like to have seen a whole film about the Sam Mathis daughter character and the boyfriend instead. The rest of the film, the script, direction, etc. are the just awful.