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Rating:  - "Here kitty kitty..."
Micki and Maude is so funny, original, and heartwarming film about a man who is married to two women and trying to keep the truth from slipping out. Dudley Moore is perfectly cast as Rob, Amy Irving and Ann Reinkling star as Rob's two brides. Directed by Blake Edwards, Micki and Maude is just one laugh and mishap after the other. I love, love, love this film, after all these years, this movie is still a riot. I highly recommend this comedic look at a bigamist with a heart of gold. Enjoy!
Rating:  - The heartwarming topic of bigamy
I picked up this movie after not seeing it in nearly 20 years. I didn't understand it then, being just as kid, and I still don't understand it now as an adult.
Dudley Moore made a career out of playing lovable, everyman characters who have human foibles (alcoholism for example). In this case it was infidelity. Dudley plays Rob, a man married to Micki, a powerhouse attorney who is not ready for (nor seems to want) children despite his wants. Loosing his interest because his wife doesn't share his same wants, Rob begins an affair with a cellist named Maude. Maude seems sweet and ernest, and she wants children just as much as Rob does. Maude discovers that she is pregnant, and Rob decides that he is going to leave Micki for the woman who is willing to have a family with him. When he is about to tell Micki this, Micki surprises him by telling him that she too is pregnant. Rob, in a series of screwball comic antics (it is a Blake Edwards movie, after all), is dashing in between the two women, living a double life as a husband to both women. In an inevitable coincidence, both Micki and Maude give birth in the same hospital on the same day, and his double life is discovered.
Bigamy is not funny, even if Blake Edwards is making a movie about how hilarious it can be. As an adult, I have had the privilage of seeing firsthand how infidelity has hurt both men and women, not to mention children. It's irresponsible and self centered. Rob is certainly not a typical bigamist, who is using and abusing women to support himself financially, not caring if any children are produced from the unions, then moves on to the next unsuspecting victim in another city. He seems to really love both of them. But, he's a coward. If he was a stand up guy, he would have done the right thing and ended one or both of the relationships. End of story.
And that ending? WTF is with that ending?! I can understand that both of the women, despite being shattered by his deception, would want to see him at least a few more times. And being that they both had children by him, despite his deception, he does have a right to see his kids if he wants to. But we see both women moving on in their careers (Micki as a judge, Maude as a concert cellist), and Rob is in the park with a bunch of kids running around him calling him Daddy?!?! What does that mean?! They both continue to see him, both have more kids with him, but HE takes care of them!?!?!? I gave this 2 stars for the comic antics only that pulled a few laughs here and there, but otherwise it deserved 1 based on that ending.
Rating: - Rooting for the Villain
Dudley Moore is the villain in this one but it is hard not to root for him. He plays the supportive husband of Ann Reinking.
All he wants to do is be a father but his wife is busy working on a political campaign. She promises they will settle down when it is over. When it ends, she is instead rewarded with a judgeship in another city which she has to take. That leaves Dudley back home and lonely, mourning for the kids he is sure he will never have.
That's when he meets Amy Irving. She is a cellist he interviews and they share some type of spark with each other right away. He is not the type to be an adulterer but the situation gets the best of him because he feels abandoned by his own wife. He and Amy fall in love and he decides to get a divorce from Ann so he can settle down with Amy and have kids.
If it were that simple, though, there would not really be a movie here. Just as he gets ready to tell Ann the news, she tells him that she is pregnant from their last conjugal visit. Amy turns up pregnant at the same time. Since he really loves them both, he cannot bring himself to divorce Ann nor can he stop himself from marrying Amy. Neither knows about the other and it is slapstick as he tries to manage his life to keep both of his secrets. Needless to say, the world conspires against him.
When both women head into labor at the same time, the secret comes out with disastrous consequences for the guy who only ever wanted to be a dad.
This one is comedy throughout.
Rating: - A bittersweet story of bigamy
This film released in late 1984,is about a married man named Rob Salinger(the late Dudley Moore) who secretly marries another woman during his current marriage. Rob is a newspaper editor married to Micheline "Micki" Salinger(Ann Reinking),a judge. While secretly romancing Maude(Amy Irving),he proposes to her(Maude). Rob has babies by both women and in one of the last scenes,they(the women) both meet and converse about their respective simultaneous marriages. But Rob keeps both wives. In the real world,bigamy is undoubtedly illegal. Director Blake Edwards' previous film credits include BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and THE PINK PANTHER. Subsequently,he directed the late John Ritter in 1989's SKIN DEEP.
Rating:  - "You're my woman...and I'm your man "
Sorry, if you missed the humor in my review title. It's actually a quote from the film itself. And I don't memorize line from movies, unless they've really made some kind of impression , on me. "Micki and Maude" was impressionable , because it's hilarious. Not hilarious, like "The Jerk", or "Dumb and Dumber". It's not that kind of film. Rather it's hilarious, in the sense of it's dry wit and added humor ,into everyday life situations. Not overplayed or over the top. Hollywood doesn't make too many films like this anymore and that makes "Micki and Maude" , even more enjoyable. This is one of those ,little ,jewels, of a film , that has escaped the popularity and credit , that it's worth. I originally , saw "Micki and Maude" , back in the 80's , on HBO. I was a huge Dudley Moore fan , and so that was the initial appeal , and he's very funny as the story's leading character ( Rob ). I'm also a huge Blake Edwards fan , and this story is exemplirary of his directing and hilarious writing skills. Richard Mulligan also adds to this hilarious farce about a married man ( Dudley Moore ) , who falls for an ambitious , talented and very beautiful younger woman ( played by Amy Irving ). Things get complicated , as Rob ( Dudley Moore) tries to cover it up , from his wife and tries to keep his wife a secret from his mistress. If that sounds tricky , add the fact that he's madly in love with both and gets them both pregnant , at the same time. By today's Hollywood standards , this film would never get the greenlight. Simply because the formula of the script is entirely too murky. However , this film proves that with a wonderful script , director, and cast , that it is possible to make a highly entertaining film with this type of material. Moreover, " Micki and Maude " is a quaint little film , that harbors alot of it's storyline with chauvenistic themes. But who else can make this theme, more humor filled than Dudley Moore ? I've seen this film, countless times and I enjoy it even more, as I get older. A very funny film , to see on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
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