"Lovesick" starring Dudley Moore and Elizabeth McGovern

Dudley Moore plays married New York City psychiatrist Saul Benjamin. When his colleague and friend Dr. Jaffe (played by Wallace Shawn) suddenly dies, Dr. Benjamin "inherits" patient Chloe Allen (Elizabeth McGovern), who soon shows up in Dr. Benjamin's office. She is a young and attractive aspiring playwright (whom Dr. Jaffe had discussed with Saul on the evening he died). Dr. Benjamin also immediately falls for Chloe and becomes obsessed with her.

Much of the movie's wit and humor lie in the scenes of Dr. Benjamin with his regular patients, one a nymphomaniac, one a bored middle-aged housewife (Mrs. Mondragon) with a "problem", another a businessman whose mistress has left him ("She wasn't even a secretary, just a receptionist".), another a homosexual whose partner has just left him. Then there's an accountant named Mr. Arnold who lies on Dr. Benjamin's couch in complete silence for the entire session. (Mr. Arnold finally has a "breakthrough" in a very funny scene.) There are also hilarious scenes with Dr. Benjamin and his schizophrenic patient Mr. Zuckerman, a former professor who is convinced that harmful rays are penetrating his head. Dr. Benjamin prescribes a "protective hat" for Mr. Zuckerman which is actually the foil wrapping from his egg salad sandwich.

Alec Guiness plays Sigmund Freud with whom Dr. Benjamin has imaginary talks throughout the movie. There are quite a few Freudian allusions (Marshall Brickman has co-written movies with Woody Allen), and the movie has an intellectual/psychological bent.

Dudley Moore pursues Chloe through the streets of Manhattan in the hope of finding happiness. As he points out to his own psychiatrist/colleague (John Huston), perhaps the worst fate of all is to be have a barely tolerable life which leads to a "slow quiet death of the soul".

Dudley follows Chloe into the theatre where she is rehearsing a play she has written and then even breaks into her apartment in order to read a diary she has mentioned to him during a session in his office. After his colleagues challenge his ability to practice psychiatry, the movie ends on an optimistic note. Dudley's mid-life crises is resolved.

The movie is extremely funny, well-paced, intelligent. Dudley Moore is in top form. Elizabeth McGovern is quite good. This film is a little gem!