Julie Andrews delivers a virtuoso dramatic performance in Duet for One. Based on a play by Tom Kempinski, the story concerns brilliant concert violinist Stephanie Anderson (Andrews) who is slowly succumbing to the ravages of multiple sclerosis. Stephanie's problems are compounded by her cheating husband David Cornwallis (
Alan Bates), and her protégé Constantine Kassanis (
Rupert Everett), who shows signs of "selling out" to popular entertainment.
Max von Sydow, who previously co-starred with Andrews in
Hawaii, plays psychiatrist Dr. Louis Feldman, who tries to help Stephanie cope with her debilitations, but who ends up as much an albatross around her neck as David and Constantine. Critics are still divided over whether or not the mystical sequences between Andrews and the ghost of her violin teacher (Sigfrit Steiner) truly work within the context of the plotline. Duet for One was the third English-language production for Russian filmmaker
Andrei Konchalovsky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide