Micki & Maude

"Micki + Maude" is a wonderful comedy with a great comic performace by Dudley Moore as a man who has an incredible mess on his hands. Moore plays Rob Salinger, a TV reporter married to Micki (Ann Reinking), an assistant district attorney. Moore is desperate to have a baby but Micki doesn't want kids at the moment because she wants to work at her job so she can become a judge. One day Rob meets Maude (Amy Irving), a cellist he interviews for a report. When Micki goes out of town on business, Rob begins to have a fling with Maude. Then comes the shocking news. Maude announces that she's pregnant! Rob asks her to marry him and that he'll divorce Micki. When Micki gets back in town, Rob meets her for dinner at a restaurant where he plans to break the bad news to her. Then comes even more shocking news. Micki announces that she's pregnant! So what does Rob do now? Easy. He still marries Maude, stays married to Micki, and becomes a bigamist. "Micki + Maude" has lots of big laughs, especially the scenes in the doctors offices and hospital. This is one of director Blake Edwards' best films. The performance by Dudley Moore is a comic tour-de-force. He won a Golden Globe for his work here. Amy Irving and Ann Reinking are terrific too as the women in Moore's life, and there's a great supporting performance by Richard Mulligan (of TV's "Soap" and "Empty Nest") as Moore's boss and best friend who Moore comes to for advice. "Micki + Maude" is a very funny movie for fans of Dudley Moore and Blake Edwards. Only the silly ending keeps this movie from being a "10".

***1/2 (out of four)

Likable Blake Edwards comedy with Moore who plays a frustrated news reporter with two wives, who are both pregnant at the same time. Yikes! This farce is pleasant and Moore carries it beautifully with his usual timing and flair. One of his best!

"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.

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.

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 ****