Noises Off! (1992)

  Normally I'm not very interested in farces.  They're usually slap-happy Three Stooges-type things that get on my nerves.  This one was surprisingly funny.  Maybe it's the all-star cast.  After all, you can't usually go wrong with Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, John Ritter, and Christopher Reeve. 

The plot follows an acting troupe taking a British sex farce on the road.  Along the way, their personal dramas cause innumerable rifts that end up spilling over into the play.  Allow me to try and explain all their connections.  /deep breath

Lloyd is the director trying vainly to get this show off to a start in Des Moines so he can go back to New York because he is also directing Hamlet on Broadway.  He hates everyone in his cast.  He's sleeping with Poppy, the stage manager, and also with Brooke, the ingenue.

Dotty is the leading lady who is sleeping with Garry.  They break up in Miami, causing her to lock herself in her dressing room at every opportunity.

Garry can't complete a sentence, finishing everything with "you know".  He flies into a jealous rage after his break-up with Dotty because he thinks she's taken up with Frederick.

Frederick is kind of an idiot who constantly wants to know his character's motivation and back story.  He  gets nosebleeds whenever he sees violence and also can't stand the sight of blood.  He is almost as useless as Brooke.

Brooke is blonde and too dumb to ad lib when things start going wrong on set.  She is also constantly losing her contact lens, forcing the entire cast to drop to the ground and look for it.  She has a "nervous disorder" after she learns that Lloyd is also sleeping with Poppy that requires him to fly to Miami to cajole her into going on-stage.

Selsdon is an old character actor who is nearly deaf and a drunk.  He can't understand anything less than a shout which makes the cast terrified that he'll get soused and forget his cue.  He is constantly trying to hide bottles of scotch around the theater, which they are constantly trying to take away from him.

Belinda is the second female lead and the troupe gossip.  She's the one who breaks the news about who is sleeping with whom, which causes all the tension between Lloyd and Poppy.

Poppy and Tim are the stage managers who are desperately trying to keep this play running.  They handle all the props, the set, and the understudy parts despite stage fright and general ineptitude respectively, while putting up with Lloyd's attitude and the quirks of the cast.

Did I miss anyone?  No?  Good.  So there you go.  Take all those characters, toss them together, and stir.  Voila.  Instant comedy.