Pretty Woman (1990)
Country: US
Technical: col 119m
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Laura San Giacomo, Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy
Synopsis:
A hostile takeover company head meets a prostitute in Beverly Hills and asks her to spend the week with him, discovering along the way both a princess and his conscience.
Review:
What started as a serious drama idea ended up being re-fashioned as a romantic comedy, and the most successful one of the Nineties at that. It was optimistic and at the same time knowing in its appropriation of the Pygmalion story, and it incidentally (and somewhat more naïvely) summed up the material obsessions of its age. Its message, that everyone deserves to have their inner beauty appreciated in spite of appearances, is a bit rich given the physical gifts of its stars, but valid nonetheless; the 'humanization' of the Gere character is paradoxical in as much as it is his business dealings that have hitherto financed the kind of wealth that is spread out for Roberts's, and our, enjoyment. Leaving criticism aside, it is a classic Hollywood fairytale with modern, risqué trappings: lightly handled and hard to resist. It also rebooted Gere's career, thank you very much.
Country: US
Technical: col 119m
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Laura San Giacomo, Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy
Synopsis:
A hostile takeover company head meets a prostitute in Beverly Hills and asks her to spend the week with him, discovering along the way both a princess and his conscience.
Review:
What started as a serious drama idea ended up being re-fashioned as a romantic comedy, and the most successful one of the Nineties at that. It was optimistic and at the same time knowing in its appropriation of the Pygmalion story, and it incidentally (and somewhat more naïvely) summed up the material obsessions of its age. Its message, that everyone deserves to have their inner beauty appreciated in spite of appearances, is a bit rich given the physical gifts of its stars, but valid nonetheless; the 'humanization' of the Gere character is paradoxical in as much as it is his business dealings that have hitherto financed the kind of wealth that is spread out for Roberts's, and our, enjoyment. Leaving criticism aside, it is a classic Hollywood fairytale with modern, risqué trappings: lightly handled and hard to resist. It also rebooted Gere's career, thank you very much.
Country: US
Technical: col 119m
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Laura San Giacomo, Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy
Synopsis:
A hostile takeover company head meets a prostitute in Beverly Hills and asks her to spend the week with him, discovering along the way both a princess and his conscience.
Review:
What started as a serious drama idea ended up being re-fashioned as a romantic comedy, and the most successful one of the Nineties at that. It was optimistic and at the same time knowing in its appropriation of the Pygmalion story, and it incidentally (and somewhat more naïvely) summed up the material obsessions of its age. Its message, that everyone deserves to have their inner beauty appreciated in spite of appearances, is a bit rich given the physical gifts of its stars, but valid nonetheless; the 'humanization' of the Gere character is paradoxical in as much as it is his business dealings that have hitherto financed the kind of wealth that is spread out for Roberts's, and our, enjoyment. Leaving criticism aside, it is a classic Hollywood fairytale with modern, risqué trappings: lightly handled and hard to resist. It also rebooted Gere's career, thank you very much.