10 (1979)

Note Générale:

5,8/10   

Réalisateur:

Blake Edwards

Scénariste:

Blake Edwards (written by)

Date de sortie:

5 octobre 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedie | Romance

Accroche:

A temptingly tasteful comedy for adults who can count.

Intrigue:

A Hollywood songwriter goes through a mid-life crisis and becomes infatuated with a sexy blonde newlywed.

Plot Keywords:

Songwriter | Mexico | Newlywed | Beach | Rescue

Récompenses:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

Funny and sexy, though not great

Ensemble

Dudley Moore	...	George Webber
Julie Andrews	...	Samantha Taylor
Bo Derek	...	Jenny Hanley
Robert Webber	...	Hugh
Dee Wallace	...	Mary Lewis
Sam J. Jones	...	David Hanley (as Sam Jones)
Brian Dennehy	...	Donald
Max Showalter	...	Reverend
Rad Daly	...	Josh Taylor
Nedra Volz	...	Mrs. Kissell
James Noble	...	Dr. Miles
Virginia Kiser	...	Ethel Miles
John Hawker	...	Covington
Deborah Rush	...	Dental assistant
Don Calfa	...	Neighbor

Durée:

122 min

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur (Metrocolor)

Rapport de forme:

2,35 : 1

Son:

Stereo

Classification:

Norway:12 (video rating) | Australia:M | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | West Germany:16 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:11 | Norway:16 (1980) | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R | Peru:18

Lieux de tournage:

All Saints' Episcopal Church - 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Société:

Geoffrey Productions

Anecdotes:

Peter Sellers turned down numerous offers to play the lead role, but made a cameo appearance as a jazz drummer in a restaurant scene. The scene was cut from the movie.

Goofs:

Equipe ou équipement visible: Shadow of a helicopter following George Webber when he drives on the highway.

Guillemet:

George: By what name are you known, sir?
Don: Donald. Don, to my friends and paying customers.
George: In that case, I'll have another double Don. Double Don, God, that's going to be difficult to say by the shank of the evening. Better make that one a single.

Connexions:

Parodié dans Big Momma's House 2 (2006)

Bande son:

It's Easy to Say

Funny and sexy, though not great

I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised finding 10 in the morning program of a German TV-Channel. After all the talk about the breathtaking appearance of the now only for her nude pictures famous Bo Derek in the film and the adult story I didn't think of it appearing on TV that early in the morning. There you have the difference between the European and the American. The latter one would have probably showed the movie at least after 8 o'clock p.m., but here no one cares. And here almost everybody who saw the film thinks it's one of the 80ies-cult-movies.

Like in many of his late directorial efforts Blake Edwards, who is still best remembered for his outrageously funny PINK-PANTHER-Series, analyses modern relationships between men and women in this sometimes charming, sometimes very funny, slapstick-heavy and though loosely structured sex comedy about a midlife-crisis-plagued and foolish composer who in his pursuit of his dream woman risks his life, his relationship with his girlfriend and, well, also his teeth, but eventually realises that sticking with the woman who deserves a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10 is sometimes better than reaching for the one who would score 11. This 24th Edwards-directed movie, which he also wrote and produced, garnered two Oscar nominations for its music by Henry Mancini and divided like most of his sex comedies of the 80ies and 90ies most of the American and European critics, the latter ones always being amused by the rude, nasty humour and the others offended by it. However, though failing to be the great comedy it could certainly have been, 10 is still good entertainment thanks to a great comedic performance by Dudley Moore in the lead, a fine supporting cast and some hilariously funny slapstick gags. Apart from being a back-to-box-office-success-movie for Edwards, who suffered in the 70ies with more thoughtful movies like WILD ROVERS (1971), THE CAREY TREATMENT (1972) and THE TAMARIND SEE (1974) it was also the breakthrough-movie for 80ies Sex symbol Bo Derek.

Life as a composer. George (Dudley Moore) is a 42-years-old, small movie composer who lives in a big house in the hills, drives a expensive Rolls Royce and his girlfriend is the beautiful stage actress Sam (Julie Andrews). But he suffers from a midlife-crisis which causes depressions. After all he has a unsatisfying sex life and at the same time his neighbour enjoys wild Sex-Parties. Even his psychiatrist (John Hancock) and his sensible gay friend Hugh (Robert Webber) can't help him out of his situation. There's something missing in his almost perfect life. But what is it?

11 out of 10. Then one day while stopping on the Santa Monica Boulevard in his Rolls Royce he has a vision of a beautiful woman sitting right next to him in a black car. She looks at him, turns away and disappears. She's on her way to her wedding. George can't do nothing but follow the gorgeous woman to her marriage and is stung by a bee in the church. But that won't be the only pain he will suffer while his restless and adventurous pursuit of his dream woman, whose name is by the way Jenny and is played by the adorable Bo Derek. He has six cavities painfully filled by her father, who is a dentist. Groggy from pain pills and brandy, he falls from his house into the pool of his neighbour where his girlfriend sees him and breaks up with him. Then he finds himself aboard an aeroplane flying to Mexico, where Jenny, the girl who scores 11 out of 10, spends her honeymoon with her athletically built husband.

Why 10? Despite having a one-joke-movie in his hands Blake Edwards manages to pull of some very funny set-pieces who lift the tiresomely structured and by his standards pretty slowly paced comedy to a acceptable entertainment, that one the one hand wastes some of its talents and on the other delivers some really memorable moments of highly enjoyable silly slapstick scenes.

On the minus side you have Julie Andrews, despite being as beautiful as always she is too much off screen to really bring her character to life and is actually wasted by her husband Edwards. Also in the final act of his comedy Edwards gets unpleasantly serious turning the whole comedy into a message movie that say, "Stay with your wife, pal! There are women who are 11, but the ones with the 10 won't betray you and will always wait for you to come back."

On the plus side you have though somewhat bored by its slow opening very funny set-pieces that turn up back to back, so you laugh through almost the rest of the film. One of the funniest is the lovemaking-scene between Dudley Moore and Bo Derek, where the song "Bolero" by Ravel has to play has to been played to make her horny. But the record player strikes at the best parts of it.

The supporting cast is very likeable, but not the characters, actually. You like them because of the appealing actors. Brian Dennehy is actually Brian Dennehy standing behind a desk and Robert Webber is actually Robert Webber looking a little bit worried at his athletic lover and Dee Wallace is Dee Wallace looking just fine. They don't really emerge as characters.

It's all up to Moore's character to carry the film. Moore gives a very likeable performance in a very selfish character, which is a achievement by a comedic genius. He delivered almost the same excellent performance two years later as the selfish, but likeable title character in ARTHUR (1981) and got his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Of course, the movie is also a voyeuristic pleasure, because while Andrews is presented somewhat colourless the film's sensation is actually Bo Derek, who starred here in her third film and became the overnight sex symbol of the following decade. She is gorgeously beautiful and she is breathtakingly attractive, though she isn't really a character or anything else in the movie than a symbol or just a vision of a perfect woman from another world. She isn't playing, she's posing, and for some (men) that might be just enough.