Postcards From the Edge is hardly a sob story, and not a "woman's movie" from the '40s. It's very savvy and snotty and a little sexy, too.

With a major assist from [director] Mike Nichols, Fisher has now transformed her novel into a smashingly entertaining movie. Postcards From the Edge is a hilarious, surprisingly poignant comedy about learning to accept one's parents.

Fisher neatly skewers Hollywood pretension. And Nichols enlists a first-rate cast in cameo roles, including Dennis Quaid as an oversexed producer, Gene Hackman as a compassionate director and Richard Dreyfuss as a smitten doctor.

Where it pleases, Postcards pleases liberally. At least it never, ever resembles a soap opera. And nearly every performance in this picture glitters.