Micki + Maude

Micki+Maude is one of the most satisfying comedies to come out of Hollywood in the 1980's. It is perhaps Blake Edward's last great film, it is also the film in wich Dudley Moore solidified his position as a like-able Romantic Light Comedian worthy of greats like Cary Grant and Jack Lemon. The plot in itself works thanks to a knockout idea, Dudley Moore + 2 wives = Bigamy x Pregnancy. Any theme like that alone would be funny. Handled by one of the all time great American directors, Blake Edwards and starring Cuddly Dudley, it soars. Amy Irving as Micki, and Anne Reinking as Maude are both very enjoyable and frothy charcters, essential to a romantic comedy. One imagines that if he wanted to Edwards could have made this a straight sequel to his hit 10, with Dud reprising his role as George Webber, with Julie Andrews as Micki and Bo Derk as Maude. But Amy Irving and Anne Reinking do just nicely. Michael Le Grand's themes and songs are nice, and the film amounts to a funny and fitting climax. Edwards employs in the fianl scenes lots of Laurel and Hardy imagery and Dud handles this well. Edwards should be proud because not only has he emulated the greatest work of Stan and Ollie with this film, he has created something that in turn will influence generations of Comedy directors. Why on earth this didn't win any Academy Awards i dont know. I can think of an Actor and a Director who thoroughly deserve them.

Local TV reporter Rob Salinger (Dudley Moore) is married to Micki (Ann Reinking) who is trying to be a high power judge. He wants to have children but she wants to hold off. He is sent to do a piece on concert cellist Maude Guillory (Amy Irving). He has an affair with her and she gets pregnant. He is about to ask Micki for a divorce when she tells him that she's pregnant. He doesn't divorce Micki and marries Maude anyways. Only his boss Leo (Richard Mulligan) knows the truth as Rob tries to live his double lives.

Director Blake Edwards sometimes try to make his cheating protagonists appealing. It's not appealing and I don't like Rob in this movie. He's trying to get points for marrying both women but it's his cheating that started the whole thing. It's not fun. There isn't much screwball humor until the hospital. By then, I only really like Amy Irving.

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.

"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 ****