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On a laughter scale, Blake Edwards' 10, a spicy comedy of manners, morals and midlife crises, hits the top. It's a film of many moods, sometimes sexy, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes slapstick - but always on target. That target is 42-year-old composer George Webber (Dudley Moore), a man who has everything - and who may just chuck it all in an obsessive quest for a beautiful woman (Bo Derek) he glimpses en route to her wedding.With 10, Moore began a series of hit comedies (Arthur, Micki and Maude) that made him an audience favorite. As George's patient girlfriend, Julie Andrews returned to movies after a long absence, signaling the fire and wit of her Victor/Victoria three years later. For many, 10's hottest star remains Derek, whom George rates "at least 12." Moviegoers rated her a "wow" - and 10 launched her as the first big sex star of the 80's. Another thing is certain. In 10, the director of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Days of Wine and Roses and seven succesful Pink Panthers has created one of his richest, most fully realized works.
Editor's Note
Dudley Moore stars in Blake Edwards's deft satire of male menopause. A successful songwriter seemingly possessed of the trappings of the good life, George Webber (Moore) is plagued by a sense of that he's losing his interest in life and sex. Despite sage advice from friend Hugh (Robert Webber) on appreciating his girlfriend, Samantha (Julie Andrews), he can't help fantasizing about his exhibitionist neighbors and becomes obsessed by the sight of his dentist's daughter after seeing the stunning woman on the way to her wedding in Beverly Hills. George follows the couple to an Acapulco hotel, where he wangles a meeting with the woman, Jenny Miles (Bo Derek), after saving the life of her husband, Sam (David Hanley). As he continues an amusingly bungling pursuit of Jenny, she makes it clear that she has a particularly generous reward in mind for his action. In Edwards's hilarious, knowing comedy of middle-aged angst, Moore splits his time between clownish pratfalls and quiet scenes of self-examination as he strives for an elusive sense of fulfillment.
Plot Summary
In this sophisticated Blake Edwards comedy that introduced the world to Bo Derek, Dudley Moore plays an Oscar-winning songwriter troubled by middle age who becomes obsessed with a young woman--a perfect 10--when he sees her on her way to her wedding.
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