Release Date: March 27, 1987
Director: Blake Edwards
Starring: Bruce Willis, Kim Basinger, John Larroquette, William Daniels, Phil Hartman
Favorite quote: “Oh Walter your beautiful car! Oh look on the bright side, what else can happen?” – Nadia Gates
I haven’t gone down this well in a while. It’s not been for a lack of desire; real life finds a way to ruin plans. So I figure, why not restart this series with a bang? Let’s kick off version 2.0 of this mess with a real mess.
Let’s kick it off with a movie NO ONE likes…but me.
I explored my sinful love of indefensible movies with my look at Last Action Hero. As much as that movie is unliked by the general movie-going populace, however, it cannot compare with Blind Date, the subject of today’s article.
I mean, even BRUCE WILLIS HIMSELF dislikes this movie!
Fun fact: Willis was a heavy drinker in those days, even endorsing Seagram’s Wine Coolers in a series of commercials. He decided to kick the habit when he saw his life was taking a turn for the worse. He distanced himself from the wine cooler commercials and went on a sober kick. He now only drinks wine, and only when he eats. Good for him! I cannot follow his lead because I drink like an Irishman trying to win a bet (I LOVE IRELAND!), but I admire his decision.
Back before Bruce Willis became the action-movie hunk we know him as today, he was known as a comedy actor who had a star turn on ABC’s Moonlighting opposite Cybil Shepard. Of course, he wanted to branch out into movies. His first feature film is Blind Date, a movie that pretty much everyone shat on, Mr. Willis included. The movie has huge alcoholic overtures, and he swore off alcohol soon after this movie premiered. Plus, the movie tanked harder than an M1A1 Abrams. So yea, he had quite a few reasons to disassociate himself with this movie.
Fun fact: Kim Basinger had top billing in the movie. Willis second billing.
For some reason, however, I enjoyed this movie when I first saw it. With a few decades of retrospection, I see the flaws. But I still watch it from time to time for some mindless fun.
I’m not even ashamed.
Willis stars as Walter Davis, a dedicated bachelor. He’s set up on a blind date by his brother, Ted (Phil Hartman). He goes to pick up his sister-in-law’s cousin, the beautiful Nadia Gates (Kim Basinger). He’s obviously smitten with her, but is haunted by Ted’s only warning: do NOT let her drink alcohol. Obviously, he ignores this warning, suffering the consequences when Nadia gets increasingly wild with each drink. The nightmarish night only becomes more so when she is hounded by her former lover and scumbag lawyer, David (John Larroquette). The rest of the night, into the morning and onto the following days, is filled with tons of goofy hijinks. As the title cards always say, “Hilarity ensues.”
Yes, this Blake Edwards effort is incredibly sophomoric. Many of the jokes are childish, and the plot is contrived to the point of causing physical pain. This is not a great movie.
Fun fact: the composer for Blind Date was Henry Mancini. Yes, the author of one of the most iconic themes songs, The Pink Panther theme, was part of this.
You know what? I don’t care!
The slapstick is entertaining, and it’s always fun to see Larroquette bumble about as the asshole you’re almost forced to like. For me, it just WORKS!
By the end of the date, Walter Davis is absolutely disheveled. His nightmare of a night is worn prominently on his face and clothes, and you can laugh at the things that happen to him. Back in the day, Willis could sell comedy, and though this movie doesn’t do him justice, you can still snicker at the horrible things he goes through.
Fun fact: the name of the dog that vexes Davis in the third act? Rambo.
Is this movie a timeless comedy? Not by a long shot! But as a look into Willis’s comedy chops, it’s still entertaining in my eyes.
Thankfully, Willis’s career rebounded quite well from this movie. When the producers of Die Hard got a non-committal for the role of John McClane from Frank Sinatra (yes, Ol’ Blue Eyes was contractually required to be offered the role first!), they turned to the raw Willis to play the title role. The rest, as they say, is history.
So is 1991’s Hudson Hawk, a Bruce Willis movie so bad, even I couldn’t excuse it!
Blind Date, however, is a movie I can excuse. It’s not a comedic gem, but it is a guilty pleasure a periodically enjoy. Looking at it now, after seeing the career Bruce Willis has enjoyed, it’s almost quaint.
Basinger’s career didn’t hurt because of this movie, either. She went on to be in quite a few movies after this, including 9 ½ Weeks, Batman, and 8 Mile. Before Phil Hartman’s untimely death in 1998, he also enjoyed a stellar career that included a run in Saturday Night Live, as work in several beloved cartoons, including TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Captain Planet, and even The Simpsons. Oh, and he absolutely CRUSHED the role of asshole neighbor and serial cookie eater Ted Maltin in Jingle All The Way. Blake Edwards kept his career going strong as well until his passing in 2010.
Larroquette, however, seems to have not been able to move on from Blind Date. His role as douchebag lawyer Dan Fleming in Night Court seems to be his only true calling card. It‘s a great calling card; I LOVE that series! But he never got his star turn on the silver screen.
Do I think this movie is great? Not at all. But as a guilty pleasure I indulge on occasion, I think it’s perfect.
Fun fact: William Daniels, who played the role of David’s father, Judge Howard Bedford, voiced K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider. If you cannot like a movie that stars John McClane AND K.I.T.T., PLUS has a dog named Rambo, you might be un-American.
