These Old Broads (2001)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I first saw this movie when it originally aired on television, and curious like everybody else to see the involvements of these for legendary ladies working together for the first time. They had all known each other for decades, but other than through personal encounters and scandals had never appeared on screen together. Of course the big curiosity would be seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds working together in the same movie, their famous scandal involving husband Eddie Fisher still talked about to this day. What they are lacking however is a good script, and the weak plot that ties it together shows how desperate that someone was to get these four ladies together at least once in their careers.Elizabeth is only on screen briefly, playing the three star's agent, a crass woman whose dealings didn't just take place in studio offices, many of them allegedly taking place in her bedroom as well. Joan Collins and Shirley MacLaine join Reynolds as three former movie stars who now hate each other for various reasons, reunited because their fictional 1960 film "Boy Crazy" has become a hit in an apparent re-release. If this whole idea doesn't strike it was ridiculous, then there's also the situations that they get involved in which our forest, often silly and sometimes through the talents of the three women very funny.Among the men in their lives is MacClaine's gay son who has been estranged from her for years, Reynolds' handsome husband Peter Graves and Collins' lover, mobster Gene Barry. Add on Pat Crawford Brown as Collins' easy going very American mom, sleazy television producer and I rather if effeminate black choreographer, and you have enough sitcom situations to keep this slightly muse and if not remarkable.There are enough references to the star's real lives to amuse the curious and entice the nosy into finding out more. You won't be surprised to find out that the three queens end up in a gay bar where Debbie and Joan turn almost into drag queens while performing Get Happy. Debbie had already done this in Connie and Carla while Shirley had encounters with female impersonators in Postcards From the Edge. So while outlandish and silly, this is a very gay friendly comedy. All it was missing was Ann Miller.

Of the four female icons in the cast of These Old Broads only one so far at least has chosen this to be her last film. It could and should be the coda for the careers of Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins, and Elizabeth Taylor.The first three play aging film stars who co-starred in a musical that has become a cult item and has just had a smash hit re-release. What better than a nice television special reuniting the three. Only problem is that they all can't stand each other. It's going to take someone of the skills of a Mideast peace negotiator to bring them all together. The catalyst might be Jonathan Silverman who is MacLaine's estranged, adopted son. Of course it turns out to be their agent, Elizabeth Taylor who deals from a financial point of view.MacLaine, Collins, and Reynolds must have really been great sports about this female version of The Sunshine Boys. All the roles that Reynolds daughter Carrie Fisher wrote were such dead-on satires of each one of them. The three look like they're having a great old time spoofing themselves, it's positively infectious for the audience.Of course the real highlight is at the beginning when Reynolds goes to see Taylor about the reunion. Today's audience cannot possibly appreciate all the innuendo because they weren't around in the Fifties when the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds triangle was the number one news story in the nation. President Eisenhower was having trouble getting as much ink as the most famous movie love triangle ever. And that was only until the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher triangle topped that one. You could never have imagined over 40 years later seeing Taylor and Reynolds on the screen together. Older, wiser, and sadder, they definitely came to a meeting of the minds about Eddie Fisher.Collins and MacLaine don't lack for good material either, all of them are just fabulous. These Old Broads is an old stargazer's dream.

i love this movie to bits. for a million reasonsits funny, witty and a great way to reuinted the great classics actresses. and a lot of the story lines and jokes are true to the real actresses lives. which is great of them to joke about.but there is one thing that dissapoints mein the gay club scene Joan sings a dance version of "get happy", im so dissapointed that this was never releasedi would sell my soul for this song. im quite dissapointed that a soundtrack wasnt released actually. ah well. i must sit and wait for this movie to eventually be released on dvd. its only available in canada for hvs rental for some reason.if im wrong then someone please tell me

The "Old Broads" were playing themselves of course (or at least their public image) and a fabulous sendup it is. I thought it all hilarious and cheers to the ladies for their sense of humor. Maybe Liz was rather much with her obviously phony Brooklyn accent but it fit in with the camp sensibility. I can't imagine why anyone finds the scene in the gay bar objectionable since it's no more "real" than the rest of the movie and fits in with the plot IMHO.It's not Shakespeare but who cares?January 20, 2017: In view of the events surrounding the recent day-apart deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, I think it's time to put out a deluxe DVD reissue of this TV movie.