10

Boy, this was "hot stuff" back when it came out in 1979: I am referring to both the movie AND Bo Derek!

Actually, Dudley Moore was a box-office star, too. Nobody had heard of Derek before this, but this film certainly made her an overnight sensation. She didn't have to say anything in the film, just walk down a beach. Certainly, the number "10" now had a new meaning in the culture.

Basically, the film is about a guy who spots Derek, and then totally makes a fool of himself over her. Most guys would have done the same thing. Moore, making an idiot of himself as "George Webber," provided a lot of laughs and Bo had to just....well....just let herself be photographed. Fortunately, in real life, she turned out to be far more than just some hot- looking bimbo. I've heard her on several talk shows in recent years, and she's no dummy.....and still looks tremendous. Meanwhile, Moore, who had some tough physical ailments, really didn't have a noteworthy career after this film with one exception: Arthur (1981). The poor man died in 2002.

One forgets that a huge big-name actress co-starred with Moore in this movie: Julie Andrews. Perhaps a good part of that reason we forget that is she doesn't play a memorable character. It fact, she's downright unappealing as Moore's girlfriend "Samantha Taylor."

It's also easy to forget about some of the cultural issues songwriter "Webber" dealt with, bemoaning the shallowness of the current generation and its music tastes, and finally realizing his own shallowness won't lead to happiness just by being with a woman half his age. There are some profound things to ponder in this film even though it often concentrates on the slapstick humor angle. As a guy who has gone through the usual "mid- life" crisis, I would to sympathize with Webber's dilemmas but since this idiot is drunk half the time and an extremely self-indulgent person, I found it hard to "root" for him. Drunks have never been funny to me. So, when I watched this film on VHS 15 years later, it wasn't as fun as the fist time.

Speaking of drinks, Brian Dennehy was excellent as a bartender. I wish he had played more "nice guy" roles like this during his career, instead of so many evil and profane villains.

Along with millions of others, I enjoyed the movie 30 years ago, but now it's kind of sad, too slow and even painful to watch at times. For those of us who saw in the theater, the film now appears somewhat dated, but so are all of us, I guess, are dated, too.

... 45 years ago, Bo Derek and Dudley Moore weren't well known. They had both been in American films before, but not prominently and not in an A list property. It was AFTER this film that they both littered the screen with some real stinkers in separate career paths. So given that Derek and Moore were "fresh faces" at the time, I was not that surprised to go back and view Siskel and Ebert's positive review of this film in 1979 and see that they both gave it a thumbs up. But I digress.

George Webber (Dudley Moore) is a successful award winning song writer in a relationship with singer Samantha Taylor (Julie Andrews). He's just had a birthday, and as a man in his early 40s he's starting to feel old. In the midst of this middle aged angst he's driving down the road when he sees, in the car next to him, the most beautiful girl he's ever seen before. The complicating factor is that she's in her wedding dress. He follows her to the church and sees where she's getting married. He uses that information to figure out her name and where she is honeymooning. In the meantime, he is treating his actual age-appropriate girlfriend like rubbish.

Webber does manage to meet the girl of his dreams - on her honeymoon no less - but she turns out to be personality wise not exactly what he was expecting. Let me reword that - at no point do you see he was fantasizing about what she would SAY - just what she looked like and what it would be like to embrace her. But he was still slapped in the face by the reality of what she was like. What he really wants, after all, is the mind and personality of his 40 something girlfriend in the body of this 20-something "10".

The film does have its moments, but I've always found that Moore's brand of humor can get tedious. A standout is Dee Wallace, who laments the fact that, as they age, men become distinguished and women get old. Also look for Brian Dennehy as a sympathetic and philosophical bartender.

"10" (4 outta 5 stars) Kind of weird seeing this movie again after 20 years. When I first saw it I was just a kid in my early 20s and now I am older than the character Dudley Moore plays in this movie... a cranky, disillusioned composer going through a mid-life crisis. Dang, I never had one of those at 40... does this mean I'm overdue? Anyway, flawed as this movie is, it is still a classic. It's generally considered a "comedy" but the most effective scenes are the quieter, more melancholy scenes. (The scene where Moore plays the piano in the bar for Dee Wallace gets me every time.) This is probably the best role of Moore's career... he's able to come across as sympathetic even while acting like a jerk for most of the movie. It's the supporting performances by Julie Andrews, Dee Wallace, Robert Webber and Brian Dennehy that really give the movie its depth. Thankfully, Bo Derek doesn't really have to do any acting, so she doesn't throw the movie too much out of whack. The movie seems a lot sadder to me these days... though I thought it was hysterically funny 25 years ago.

I'll never forget seeing Bo Derek for the first time in this movie. I was shocked (hated the hair, but it made the character) This is a great movie about a man who is having a mid-life crisis. Dudley Moore, has just turned 42, and is single (dating Julie Andrews.) While driving around in his Rolls, he sees Bo Derek in a Mercedes on her way to her wedding. Hes totally wild over her, and she becomes a sort of obsession. So he finds out where they are honeymooning, and goes there. The movie is great, its funny, and keeps you laughing. This was also Bo's break-through. Shes a total 10, and even though she speaks very little, her character is a HUGE part of the film. Its great, everyone should see this film.

All right, so this isn't a great movie. It just happened to come along at the right moment in my life to have an impact. As a young man not yet turned 20, I could certainly identify with both Dudley Moore wanting to recapture youth through a fling with Bo Derek, and Bo Derek just wanting to have fun (and show her appreciation for Dudley's saving her boyfriend's life.) Add to that the fact that I was working at a record shop and remember selling about 9832 copies of Ravel's Bolero, and it boils down to this; "10" brings back a host of good memories for me. - mps