MICKI AND MAUDE. Directed by Blake Edwards; written by Jonathan Reynolds; produced by Tony Adams for Columbia. Starring Dudley Moore, Ann Reinking and Amy Irving. Rated PG-13 (subject matter)
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As a parent of two pre-schoolers who really keep us hopping, my husband finds one idea the hardest thing to swallow in this movie full of improbabilities, improprieties and illegalities. That is the fact that someone (a man, even) is so desperate to have kids. He can buy that Rob (Moore) marries Maude (Irving) while still married to Micki (Reinking). Ditto that he manages nine months of bigamy without running into someone he knows while he's with the wrong wife, etc.
But in spite of a plot which asks the audience to go along with quite a lot, the acting in Micki and Maude is so good, by Moore in particular, that the story feels realistic. And the movie is definitely entertaining, and even riotously funny on occasion.
Rob doesn't set out to be a bigamist. But Micki is so wrapped up in her career that she doesn't have time for the family he wants so badly. And Maude is so pretty, and as a cellist without a steady job, she has plenty of time for him. The bigamy comes about when Maude gets pregnant. Promising to divorce Micki, Rob meets her at a fancy restaurant only to find out that she is also expecting. In addition to wanting kids, Rob really does love both women, and he is basically a coward. Therefore, bigamy seems the easiest way out—at least at first.
Fans of Moore will appreciate that a plot like this is tailor-made for his comedic talents. Both he and the audience have great fun as he juggles wives, homes, schedules and obstetricians. Not all comedians could make Rob sympathetic. But with Moore in the role we see his problems as stemming from poor judgement, rather than stupidity or a deceitful nature.
Reinking and Irving are good as the wives, each of them believable and likeable, though they're very different. Richard Mulligan gives a good performance as Rob's boss and confidant, though viewers of TV's "Soap" will find him somewhat restrained here. His is a very important part, since he's the only one besides Rob who knows all of what's going on. (He's the best man at both weddings.)
Non-parents in the audience might be a little mystified by some of the childbirth jargon and hospital procedures. (When Maude practices her Lamaze breathing for labor, for example, it's just right.) But anyone who's had a child recently will agree that the realism used in these scenes adds to the humor.
Micki and Maude is so complicated that even someone as talented as Moore needs additional help to keep it afloat. Fortunately, he has the aid of a fine supporting cast, a witty script and director Edwards' crisp pacing. Together they make the movie work not only as a farce, but also as a little commentary on modern ideas about family, sex and marriage.
January 16, 1985