Une jolie femme

Look where we were in 1990. No wonder we are were we are in 2017. The movie is charming enough with a splendid Julia Roberts becoming a huge movie star but, I have to say, watching it now gave me shivers. This is not Pygmalion, no, there is no insight, it's all superficial to a cringing degree. She finds redemption through her shopping and his credit cards. Isn't that lovely? It feels so insane that maybe that means we're evolving. - I saw Pretty Woman last night with a group who had never seen it before. Funny thing the young conservative, Christian women loved it - They didn't seem to mind the message of sex and money. The young Liberal women found it absurd, offensive and the charm of the film, dangerously misleading. They left long before the happy ending. Movies become historical documents, don't they.

Romantic film, nice music, interesting plot, fine beautiful actress, (Mrs. Roberts) and handsome actor, (Mr. Gere) in prime roles, a success story from the very beginning. But, although I am enjoying movies like that, I would never rate this one as 9. The difference (and the extra points) is made by the secondary role actor Mr. Elizondo! I saw him, for the first time, in a rather extreme and rather stupid drama/comedy "Young doctors in love" (1982) and I was impressed by his acting performance. In "Pretty woman" he is the absolute star. The script supported his role, of course, but the talent is indisputable.

The combination of appealing leads, killer chemistry, and a banging soundtrack makes Pretty Woman a highly enjoyable film. The story is obviously a bit far-fetched, but who cares? It's a movie. I watch movies to be entertained and to enjoy well-told stories, and Pretty Woman certainly works on both fronts.

Obviously similar to Shaw's "Pygmalion", but updated, more modern.

A lovely dream, one very old: rescuing a prostitute from the street. (Not in Woody Allen's sickish-moody way.)

However, if you wish to dream this one, be sure you do NOT start to think very logically . . . She is healthy, not on drugs, not on alcohol, not even a smoker; no syphilis, no gonorrhea, no AIDS wounds on her legs, nothing, she is just perfectly absolutely healthy. Body and mind. She is not a criminal, not inclined to steal anything, she even values love and dignity more than money. Oh, she has no pimp, who would be the other man (other than Richard Gere) in her life; nobody to protect her from smart types who walk off without paying; the pimp would explode the whole romance instantly. (Instead, a girl friend.)

She has a golden soul, full of goodness, and loves art, and feels for art. High-society types around them appear silly, artificial, stuffy. (Different forks.) She is natural. She even was a good student (!) and . . . might be again? She loves to bathe, and half the time we see her happy in the bath tub (which is a powerful signal and symbol for CLEAN, CLEAN; she even sings so super-ultra-charmingly in the bath; she wants to wash off the foolishness of her previous few months of street. And she can do it.

But with all those qualities, WHY would she ever become a prostitute in the first place? Don't think, don't think. Just dream, it is lovely.

Pretty Woman is a very entertaining film indeed. However, for me, it isn't completely perfect, there were times when the script could have been developed a LITTLE more, and the film itself is a bit on the long side. But overall, you have a charming and entertaining movie. Richard Gere is a charming lead, and I do find him charming in everything he's in. Julia Roberts is wonderful also as Vivienne Ward, a beautiful but down on her luck sort of woman. I will confess I am not a Julia Roberts fan, but she put a lot into this film, and it showed. I was also really impressed with the supporting performances from Jason Alexander, Ralph Bellamy and Hector Elizondo. The film also has some excellent camera-work and well-intentioned direction, with a very lovely scene in the opera house, showing La Traviata, one of the world's saddest operas. The script, while a little frothy and contrived at times, still had a lot of humour and heart. Overall, I really liked this film, it made me feel good, like it promised. 8/10 Bethany Cox