Blind Date (1987)

Bruce Willis's first starring vehicle was this 1987 comedy by Blake Edwards (Victor/Victoria), in which the actor plays a yuppie set up on a blind date with a beautiful blonde (Kim Basinger). Everything goes swimmingly until Willis does what he was warned not to do: give the lady alcohol, which causes her to get entirely out of control. The one-note joke basically turns the film into a succession of set pieces in which Willis has to keep up with Basinger, bail her out of trouble, or get out of the way of her hotheaded former boyfriend (John Larroquette). Willis is fine, Basinger is impressively unhinged, Larroquette is hilarious, and Phil Hartman has a nice role as the friend who set up Willis's evening from hell. The slapstick shtick is classic Edwards, but the film is not Edwards at his most inspired. Consider Blind Date the work of a good filmmaker in a holding pattern. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Blind Date

Great movie......Bruce Willis in the early years. Saw it back when it was first released, wanted it for my library. I can watch only a few movies more than once, and this is one of them. February 8, 2008

A Really Good Movie

This is a really good movie. Anyone that doesn't like it must either have a complete lack of a sense of humor, or just plain weird taste in movies. December 26, 2007

blind date DVD

A pretty stupid movie that two great stars, Basinger and Willis turn into a superbly entertaining two hours. Loved it and must be watched several times, it is so entertaining October 3, 2007

HIGHLY underrated comedy! it is hillarious!

just b/c it's '80's and looks cheesy doesn't mean it sucks. this movie is so funny! kim basinger is awesome and hillarious as drunken Nadia! everytime i watch it i'm bowled over with laughter. i highly recommend watching this movie! July 9, 2007

WHOA!

The sight of Bruce Willis slipping on golf balls brings a tear to my eye every time. I love Blake Edwards, always have, always will. He has made some bombs (any Pink Panther movie after Peter Sellers died, for example), yet Blind Date, as far as it is from being as funny as Sellers' Pink Panther movies, The Party (also with Sellers), Breakfast at Tiffany's, and so on, is an entertaining movie and has many clever moments.
The plot, anyway, concerns workaholic Walter (Bruce Willis, pre-DIE HARD and very funny), who is bucking for a promotion and soon finds he needs a date for a dinner with his boss and a Japanese client they are representing. His brother-in-law (the always reliable late Phil Hartman)recommends Nadia (Kim Basinger), who is a sweet girl, until you get her drunk. Pish posh, says Walter, and down the hatch goes the champagne. Soon she is wrecking the dinner party, getting Walter fired, getting his car destroyed, and ultimately getting him arrested, mostly thanks to her psychotic ex-bpyfriend David (John Larroquette, basically reprising his STRIPES character and doing a fine job at it). From there Walter has to crash David and Nadia's wedding (long story), but not before some sneaking around David's parents' mansion (which Edwards can direct like no one else).
So slapstick? Check. Romance? Check. Bad '80s music? ...Sigh, check. Yeah, you'd think combining the two things he does best (pratfalls and romance) would make a masterpiece, but his fine eye for what's funny and Dale Launer's (also behind My Cousin Vinny, Ruthless People, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, three admittedly better movies) witty script make a funny movie to watch on a boring night. Just watch out for that music. Poor Henry Mancini can't even write good '80s music. June 25, 2007

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