Why do beautiful but deeply disturbed women find Miss Right protagonist William Tepper so damn irresistible? Is it his nebbishy, Brian Benben-like, okay looks? How about his trendy flirtation with Buddhism? Is it his habit of gazing directly into the camera? Or is it his glamorous history as a white, average-sized professional basketball player who becomes a journalist specializing in bomb-related stories? Is it, as Tepper admirer Karen Black insists, that he's dreamy, incisive, brilliant, and just plain wonderful? Or could it be that, as Miss Right's screenwriter, he controls what every character says and does? Whatever the reason, women love Tepper, an amorous, womanizing expatriate on the make in Rome, so dedicated to finding his titular Miss Right that he dumps all his girlfriends on the same night so he can begin his search for true love without any lingering distractions. First up on the dumping docket is beautiful-but-troubled model Marie-France Pisier, whom Tepper met cute when he stumbled upon her half-naked form while investigating an act of political violence. "I love a lot of the shit we did," Tepper assures her early in the evening, before letting her know that they are enjoying their last supper together, and not due to any sort of imminent crucifixion. Judging by her desperate attempt to slice her wrists with what Tepper refers to as his bug-squashing knife, it's safe to say Pisier doesn't take the news well. Wealthy, dissatisfied high-society wife Virna Lisi arrives at his apartment next, and though she's similarly troubled by his decision, Tepper escapes with no more trouble than a plate of spaghetti thrown in his face. Fellow UPI reporter Black finishes the evening's slate by heaping adoration on Tepper before he can give her the boot. Horribly saddened by the news, she offers to be his "shadow wife" before giving him a well-earned kick in the testicles. His adoring, beautiful lovers out of the way, Tepper then becomes enamored of artist Margot Kidder, a woman as self-absorbed and faithless as he is. Convinced that she's the one for him, Tepper goes to meet her at a classroom, where he learns that she doubles as a nude model. When not gazing in shock at Kidder's unclothed body, he makes goo-goo eyes at fetching female art student Dalila Di Lazzaro, suggesting his long, grating search for Miss Right is still far from over.
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