Cinema: Random Number

• Share

(2 of 2)

Finally, when Moore is invited into the bed of his hotly pursued "10," he finds that her modern matter-of-factness about sex turns him off, suddenly putting Edwards on the side of romantic tradition. It seems that these days the angels are on more than one side, and Edwards wants to stand with them everywhere. This is particularly hard on Andrews, who is Mrs. Edwards, and is here called upon mostly to be long-suffering, which she does with her customary cheery professionalism, but with small chance of large rewards. Most of the good material is left to Moore, who is a gifted farceur and very brave about soldiering through the editorials. He is not a forceful comedian, but he is opportunistic, intelligent and, occasionally, touchingly vulnerable. This film could provide him the chance, finally, to find the large audience he deserves.

With so much about the film that is fall-on-the-floor funny, it is perhaps ungrateful to complain about Edwards' philosophical aspirations. But "10 " had a shot at being a 10 on the comedy scale, and it is a source of regret to place it in the 6-to-7 range.

Richard Schickel