The Man Who Loved Women (1983) Columbia Pictures/Comedy-Drama RT: 110 minutes Rated R (language, nudity, sexual content) Director: Blake Edwards Screenplay: Blake Edwards, Milton Wexler and Geoffrey Edwards Music: Henry Mancini Cinematography: Haskell Wexler Release date: December 16, 1983 (US) Cast: Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews, Kim Basinger, Marilu Henner, Cynthia Sikes, Jennifer Edwards, Sela Ward, Ellen Bauer, Denise Crosby, Barry Corbin, Ben Powers, Roger Rose. Box Office: $10.9M (US)
Rating: ***
I didn’t like The Man Who Loved Women the first time I saw it, but I understood why after a few years. I went in expecting a comedy, a reasonable assumption given that it’s directed by Blake Edwards, the man responsible for many a funny movie like The Pink Panther, 10 and Victor Victoria. I wasn’t prepared for what I got.
The Man Who Loved Women is more of a drama with comedic elements than an outright comedy. The attempts at slapstick comedy feel completely out-of-sync with the rest of the picture. It’s like Edwards can’t decide what kind of movie he wants to make. In the forefront is a tragedy about a womanizer whose obsession with the opposite sex ultimately kills him. This is NOT a plot spoiler as the movie opens at his funeral, an affair for which dozens of attractive women turn out. Burt Reynolds plays the title role and I can’t think of another actor better suited for the role. I mean, we are talking about the consummate macho ladies man of the time, right?
As much as I like The Man Who Loved Women, I can’t help but find it a frustrating viewing experience in that it should have turned out much better considering the talent involved. It’s a pretty good movie that has the makings of a great one, but fails to utilize the elements to their maximum potential.
David Fowler (Reynolds) loves women, all kinds of women. He has an insatiable sexual appetite. In short, this guy is a real horndog! His fast and loose lifestyle has finally caught up with him in the form of a paralyzing mid-life crisis that renders the sculptor socially, creatively and sexually impotent. He can’t work or make a decision of any kind. He seeks helps from Marianna (Andrews, Victor Victoria), an attractive analyst who gets him to tell her his life story as a way of getting to the root of his problems. Naturally, he falls in love with his psychiatrist and starts a relationship with her. That’s the serious part of the picture and it’s quite good.
We also get to meet a few of David’s lady friends like Courtney (Sikes, Arthur 2), his live-in girlfriend and Nancy (Edwards, S.O.B.), the young prostitute he hires as his assistant. We also see him pursue Agnes (Henner, Taxi) in order to get a look at her legs.
About midway through, Edwards throws in a comedic subplot about the horny wife (Basinger, L.A. Confidential) of a Texas oil millionaire (Corbin, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) who’s sexually attracted to David. She loves to take risks and have sex in places where her jealous husband might catch her. This situation would make for a decent sex farce, but it doesn’t belong in this picture. These scenes give the movie a palpable feeling of unevenness. They just come off as clumsy and awkward.
What some people don’t realize is that Reynolds is a fine dramatic actor; they only see him as the good old boy from Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run. He’s equally adept at light comedy (Paternity), action (Sharky’s Machine) and drama (Boogie Nights). I think he’s the perfect choice for a movie like The Man Who Loved Women, a remake of the 1977 French comedy directed by Francois Truffaut. He portrays David as a man blind-sided by the activity that has defined his existence for more than half his life. He’s not so much a pitiful victim as he is confounded by his misery. Yet he continues to engage in the sport of skirt-chasing right unto the end. Not even the prospect of true love keeps him from pursuing women and going to bed with them. It’s an addiction and like addicts of all kinds, David has no control over it. Addiction is a powerful force that drives a person to engage in behavior that they know is harmful and dangerous.
You may question why an educated woman like Marianna would violate professional ethics by getting romantically involved with her patient. You may wonder why she stays with him knowing that he will cheat on her. I’d say that the answer to these questions is elementary. It’s love, an emotion that can cause people to make poor decisions. She thinks that she can change David, but deep down knows that she can’t. He is what he is and will continue to do what he does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her. He does, but doesn’t know the first thing about monogamy. That’s the tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. At least that’s what I get from The Man Who Loved Women.
As Marianna, Andrews delivers a decent performance, not an outstanding one. Basinger is quite good as the Texas millionaire’s insatiable wife. In a different movie, she and Reynolds would make an excellent comedy duo. I really think that Edwards should have removed this subplot and made a separate movie of it.
As for The Man Who Loved Women, it’s a sad movie through and through, right down to the understated cinematography and Henry Mancini’s downbeat score. I realize that this is a seriously flawed movie, but I like it. It’s not one of Edwards’ best films, but every filmmaker is entitled to make a few errors.
