Blind Date (1987 film)

Blind Date is a 1987 American romantic comedy film, directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bruce Willis, in his first leading film role, and Kim Basinger. Blind Date earned mostly negative reviews from critics, but was a financial success and opened at number one at the box office.

Plot
Walter Davis (Bruce Willis) allows his brother, Ted (Phil Hartman), to set him up on a blind date with his wife's cousin, Nadia (Kim Basinger).

Nadia is shy and the two experience some awkwardness. However, as the evening goes on, Nadia begins to drink and behave in a wild manner. (A warning about her behavior under the influence of alcohol had been given by Ted's wife, but when Ted relayed the warning to Walter, he made it sound like a joke and strongly hinted that Walter might actually benefit from giving her alcohol.)

To make matters worse, Nadia's jealous ex-boyfriend, David (John Larroquette), shows up and exacerbates the situation by stalking the couple all night, assaulting and attempting to assault Walter several times, even ramming Walter's car with his own.

Walter ends up being driven insane by Nadia's mishaps and David's pursuit; she gets him fired at the dinner; his car is destroyed; after wreaking havoc at a party, Walter gets arrested for menacing David with a mugger's revolver. He even forces David to do a moonwalk before firing at the frightened man's feet.

Nadia posts $10,000 in bail and agrees to marry David if he will help Walter avoid prison time. Before the wedding, Walter gives Nadia chocolates filled with brandy and attempts to sabotage the marriage. Chaos ensues.

In the end, Nadia humiliates David by rejecting him to the delight of their guests as she and Walter decide to give their relationship another shot. The final scene shows Nadia and Walter on their honeymoon on a beach, with a two liter bottle of Coca-Cola chilling instead of champagne.

Cast

 * Bruce Willis as Walter Davis
 * Kim Basinger as Nadia Gates
 * John Larroquette as David Bedford
 * William Daniels as Judge Harold Bedford
 * George Coe as Harry Gruen
 * Mark Blum as Denny Gordon
 * Phil Hartman as Ted Davis
 * Stephanie Faracy as Susie Davis
 * Alice Hirson as Muriel Bedford
 * Stanley Jordan as himself
 * Graham Stark as Jordan the Butler
 * Joyce Van Patten as Nadia's Mother
 * Barry Sobel as Gas Station Attendant
 * Armin Shimerman as French Waiter
 * Brian George as Maitre d'
 * Jeannie Elias as Walter's Secretary
 * Dick Durock as Bouncer
 * Sab Shimono as Mr. Yakamoto
 * Momo Yashima as Mrs. Yakamoto
 * Herb Tanney as Minister
 * Nicholas Rue as Background Creep

Production
The film was originally intended for the recently married Madonna and Sean Penn, but both backed out after the project failed to attract a director. The screenplay was re-written and this draft was given to Edwards. He agreed to direct contingent he be allowed to re-write that draft. The studio agreed. At that point, Penn dropped out and, after meeting Edwards, Madonna dropped out as well. The movie was re-cast with Willis and Basinger.

Billy Vera & The Beaters appear in the bar scene, playing several songs.

Reception
Blind Date holds a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four and wrote, "There are individual moments in this movie that are as funny as anything Edwards has ever done, but they're mostly sight gags and don't grow out of the characters. The characters, alas, are the problem. Willis plays a nerd so successfully that he fades into the shrubbery and never really makes us care about his fate. Basinger, so ravishing in most of her movies, looks dowdy this time. Her hair is always in her eyes, and her eyes are her best feature. [...] Most of the time I wasn't laughing. But when I was laughing, I was genuinely laughing - there are some absolutely inspired moments."

Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the motion picture was released by Rhino Records in 1987.

Track listing

 * 1) "Simply Meant to Be" - Gary Morris & Jennifer Warnes
 * 2) "Let You Get Away" - Billy Vera & The Beaters
 * 3) "Oh, What a Nite" - Billy Vera & The Beaters
 * 4) "Anybody Seen Her?" - Billy Vera & The Beaters
 * 5) "Talked About Lover" - Keith L'Neire
 * 6) "Crash, Bang, Boom" - Hubert Tubbs
 * 7) "Something for Nash" - Henry Mancini
 * 8) "Treasures" - Stanley Jordan
 * 9) "Simply Meant to Be" (Instrumental) - Henry Mancini