They Know How to Laugh at Themselves

The ABC movie “These Old Broads” isn’t the most dignified project one might have wished for Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor, but it’s a campy goof of a show that’s sure to be a hot topic at the water cooler Tuesday morning.

The wig-pulling cat fight in tonight’s movie is sure to come up for discussion, as is the scene in a gay bar (don’t ask) in which a guy calls out to the gals, “I dressed like you for Halloween.” But the biggest buzz will be about screenwriter Carrie Fisher having contrived a scene in which Reynolds, her real-life mom, sets aside a tiff over a man by saying to Taylor: “I forgave you years ago, so let’s move on.” The obvious reference: The 1958 scandal over Eddie Fisher’s leaving Reynolds for Taylor.

Unfortunately, Fisher fille has attempted to spin her entire plot out of disputes over men, and when she isn’t hammering that theme to death, she’s merely stringing together cliches from such movies as “The Women,” “Mommie Dearest” and her own “Postcards From the Edge.”

The story focuses on a plan to reunite the aging stars of a ‘60s movie (MacLaine, Reynolds and Collins). The film has become a cult hit in re-release, and a TV network is interested in featuring the stars in a live broadcast event. Problem is: The ladies loathe one another, due to off-screen hanky-panky during the making of that film. MacLaine’s character’s adopted son (Jonathan Silverman) and the ladies’ agent (Taylor) are enlisted to try to smooth things over.

The fun comes from these iconic actresses playing comic riffs on themselves: MacLaine as the New Age nut, Reynolds as Miss Pure-as-the-Driven-Snow, Collins as a scheming vixen. Taylor’s small part is punched up by having her filmed against a backdrop of panels that mimic Andy Warhol’s famous silk-screens of her.

The acting is broad (no pun intended), the plot contrived, the slapstick hesitantly executed--and all of it indifferently directed by Matthew Diamond. Still, you have to admire these gals for attacking their work so gamely. They’re laughing at themselves and inviting us to giggle along.