Bored with teaching undergraduates English literature, Dr. Frank Bryant (Sir Michael Caine) morosely reflects through a whiskey glass on his failed marriage and his attempt at becoming a poet. His world is turned upside-down by the arrival of Rita (Dame Julie Walters), a hairdresser who has decided to find herself by taking an Open University course. Excited by her freewheeling and acute observations, and by Rita herself, Frank also feels a deep sadness as he watches her warm impulsive reactions being replaced by the sort of cold analytical approach he so much loathes in other students and colleagues.—J-26