Micki e Maude

I've been punishing myself watching all Dudley Moore's movies from the 80's. His usual unsympathetic movie persona is here: A successful man in his field despite lacking professionalism that inevitably advances on his leading ladies while running and screaming through corridors in labored plots.

Blake Edwards tries to sugarcoat Moore's dubious moral compass in this farce. Moore is a caring husband/lover that desperately wants to be a family man but shamelessly cheats his love interests. This dissonance in values never goes away and kinda ruins the lighthearted tone of this comedy.

I loved Ann Reinking as the innocent perfect wife. The really good acting on her part that kept this movie entertaining. Amy Irving's is not exactly a counterpoint and could be more fleshed out. Moore does a competent job being more awake in the role than in his later movies.

The plot is nothing special and there's a unfortunate shadow of Arthur (1981) in the relationship between Rob and Leo mirroring Arthur and Hobson that is underdeveloped and seems tackled into the movie. Curiously, in Lovesick(1983) Moore's character also has an older figure that his character listen to and try to sort his problems.

Not a bad movie, but not good either.

Dudley Moore plays a TV-reporter who's married and wants to have kids. Unfortunately, his wife (Ann Reinking) is very career-focused and doesn't want to start a family yet. Moore falls in love with a girl he interviewed (Amy Irving). They meet a few times, not so much later she's pregnant. Moore says he wants her to become his wife. The day he decides to ask his wife for a divorce, she tells him she's expecting a baby. Moore doesn't know what to do, he loves both Reinking and Irving and they are both expecting his baby. He can't cancel his wedding with Irving so he ends up being married to both.

Everyone who loves the romantic-comedies of the eighties will agree: Although some moments are a little boring, "Micki and Maude" is a fun and entertaining movie with great performances of the leading actors (and a well-earned Golden Globe for Dudley Moore). The end is a bit lame, but the hospital scene makes up for that.

Dudley Moore is happily married to Anne Reinking who right now doesn't want kids. Dudley meets a sweet woman Amy Irving and before you know it she's pregnant. Dudley decides to plan to leave Anne but guess what she's pregnant too. So Dudley becomes a bigamist. Funny, especially the hospital scene. The ending is kind of lame but this is still a great movie.

"Micki + Maude" is a warm, lovely little comedy, so sweet-natured and appealing that it's hard to resist. We identify completely with Dudley Moore, who honestly loves both his wives; his behavior never seems smug or calculating. He just can't choose between them, because he cares deeply for both of them. And because of that, the movie becomes emotionally involving. Warning: this isn't the kind of comedy that will make you laugh so much you won't be able to take a breath; it's the kind of comedy that will leave you, repeatedly, with a goofy grin on your face.

A television reporter, married to a lawyer, falls for another sharp lady, a lovely musician. Before he knows it, he has two wives...and both are pregnant! By 1984, Dudley Moore's film choices (mostly comedies) were starting to congeal, and with each new release came a sigh of resignation that he was never going to be Arthur again. Blake Edwards (who directed in Moore in "10") allows his star too much time to work his way into comedic fitful states, and continually dotes on Moore as the diminutive actor scurries from room to room. Still, this screenplay by Jonathan Reynolds has a witty edge (and Edwards, naturally, embraces its wild slapstick bent), resulting in some very bright, often very funny sequences. As the ladies in Dudley's life, Ann Reinking and Amy Irving are both terrific, helping Moore and Edwards turn out their best film in years. **1/2 from ****