Farce is becoming a lost art in movies, with the flat contrivances of Porky's and Police Academy palmed off on a new generation as the genuine article. Happily, a master practitioner of farce, Blake (10, The Pink Panther) Edwards, is offering a refresher course. Watch closely, children, and learn: Take a silly plot about a TV journalist, Dudley Moore, whose lawyer wife, Ann Reinking, says she is too busy to conceive the baby he craves. Then mix in complications: Moore has an affair with a beautiful cellist, Amy Irving, who announces she's pregnant at the same time his wife does. Edwards builds his movie on sand, and the strong wind of logic does some structural damage, especially at the end. What's astonishing is how his wit and intelligence flesh out cardboard situations. Moore helps by squeezing every laugh out of his juiciest role since Arthur. Irving is wonderfully endearing, and Reinking—funny, touching and sexy—has found her star-making role. If you want to start the new year with a smile, Micki & Maude is just the ticket. (PG-13)
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