Boire et déboires

BLIND DATE (1987)*** Bruce Willis, Kim Basinger, John Larroquette, William Daniels, Phil Hartman. Willis in his first film during his "Moonlighting" hey-day is faced with the blind date from hell Basinger, a bombshell who "loses control" with one drink of alcohol, causing a night of slap-stick heavy consequences. Larroquette is a riot as her zealously jealous pinhead ex hellbent on destroying Willis. Best bit: Larroquette's car destruction. Directed with flair by ace Blake Edwards.

"Walter Davis" (Bruce Willis) is a dedicated, hard-working employee for a company that is pulling out all the stops to impress a possible new client. As a result he desperately needs a new date for the office dinner party. As luck would have it his brother "Ted Davis" (Phil Hartman) just happens to know of someone named "Nadia Gates" (Kim Basinger) who recently arrived in Los Angeles and so Walter takes a chance and calls her on the phone. When he gets to her apartment he is surprised at how attractive she is and wanting to loosen her up a bit he gives her some champagne even though his brother warned him not to give her any alcohol. Big mistake. Anyway, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty enjoyable comedy for the most. Admittedly there were some slow scenes here and there but after the first 15 minutes or so it really got going. I especially liked Kim Basinger who performed quite well and looked absolutely gorgeous. Be that as it may I rate this movie as above average.

I've always loved Blake Edwards films and although this may not have been regarded as his best work, I feel it was highly underrated. Though thoroughly implausible in many ways, I have to say that this movie made me laugh harder than any movie I've ever seen. My sides literally hurt after watching it. Although I've only seen it a few times since it came out because none of the networks other than FX ever show it. Why I don't know because it's really great!!

The main reason I'd have to say was John Laroquette as Nadia's psychotic ex-boyfriend. I was cracking up in every single scene he was in with his standard line (I'll kill you). His physical comedy is totally brilliant. I don't know why he didn't end up with a film career of his own. But my favorite scene has to be at the end when Nadia sees David hanging from the balcony of the house and squeals as they both dive into the pool and meet at the bottom in a kiss as they come up for air, with David yelling; "Nadia, get your mouth off of him"!!

The movie is flawed in places though. What are the odds that a house moving company would be moving a house at the exact moment that Nadia decides to knock on the door. And it is never explained why Walter is facing 2 years in prison for his night on the town, yet David completely escapes any legal obligations for plowing his car into 3 seperate businesses.

Kim Basinger and Bruce Willis were great as well. Though I didn't understand why they dyed her gorgeous blonde hair brown. Maybe because her image was supposed to be that of a sweet girl looking for love and Edwards thought she'd look too much the vamp and would lack credibility without the dye job. It's also a good chance to see the late Phil Hartman early in his career. I also loved the love song played at the end by Gary Morris and Jennifer Warnes.

All in all, a fun ride from beginning to end. If you haven't seen it yet, go out and rent it now. You won't be disapointed, it's a 10+++!

I love this film. This was Bruce Willis' first box office film in a leading role. It's a nice little film that has its funny moments. Blind Date is not Citizen Kane, but it's sure a good film to watch on a day off. When Kim Basinger gets drunk, that's where the funny moments start. She goes from being a sweet southern belle to the date from hell. She embarrasses him at a business dinner, goes ga-ga at a club, gets his car lifted, and drives him to the point of insanity. Meanwhile, ex-boyfriend Larroquette is stalking them around the town driving them nuts. His character isn't given much depth, but he works with it. All in all, it's a funny, innocent film that will make you laugh.

The only other Blake Edwards I've seen is "10", but I do prefer this. "Blind Date" isn't wall-to-wall gut-busting, but there are all sorts of little things (touches, gags, what-have-you) that really make this an enjoyable movie. The two leads make for solid comedic actors (Basinger and her million dollar scream makes a great sillyass drunk, Willis playing against type as a high-strung business type . . . and he's hilarious when he loses his sh|t). And at some point along the way, William Daniels strolls in and owns the whole flick. Marvelous stuff.

One scene in particular had me geeking out pretty hard. John Larroquette's office looks out onto the (still under-construction) Fox Plaza, otherwise known as the Nakatomi Building. That was awesome.

7/10