10 Reviews

A funny if somewhat retrograde film that sent Dudley Moore's career soaring briefly, while making some telling points about the problems of middle age. Moore is a successful songwriter with four Oscars to his name. Suffering from a combination of ennui and self-doubt, Moore sees a limousine go past in his ritzy neighborhood. In it is Derek, on her way to get married to Jones at a Beverly Hills church. This is the woman of Moore's dreams, whom he rates "11" on a scale of one to 10. Moore learns Derek's identity, and impulsively follows the newlywed couple to Mexico, where he commences a blundering pursuit of Derek. Derek enjoyed brief stardom on the basis of her part in this film but has failed to achieve any further success. Several standout comedy bits include Moore getting drunk, being stung on the nose by a bee, and burning his feet on the hot beach sand. Moore also played the piano (which he does well) in the band that provided the background music. Mancini and Robert Wells's song "It's Easy to Say" was nominated for an Oscar. The movie made about $40 million, thus qualifying it as the "sleeper" of 1979.