Pretty Woman

Sometimes you have a romantic comedy that is remembered for a long time. Movies with Audrey Hepburn, 'When Harry Met Sally...', little parts from other Meg Ryan-movies and... 'Pretty Woman'. Of course we have the famous song and the real launch of the Julia Roberts career that help a little but it just is one sweet and very funny movie.

Julia Roberts is great in romantic comedies and especially with this movie (and 'Notting Hill') she proves this. With Richard Gere she has a perfect chemistry and in the end that is all we want to see. That Roberts is a prostitute and Gere a very rich man, living in a penthouse, make things only more interesting, joke-wise. One of the better romantic comedies made in the past and definitely one to watch again. And again. And may be again.

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.

What is it about this movie that made it such an instant mega smash when it was released? I'm not sure if it's The incredible chemistry between Gear and Roberts, the smart dialog, the storyline-combination of all of the above-etc etc. But I do think These days, so few GREAT romantic comedies get made. Pretty woman is great. I enjoyed every moment of this and have seen it many times.

I haven't read any IMDb reviews of this yet, I wanted to comment first. This is a lovely story of hope and the true purity of falling madly in love-there are so many movies that try to be romantic and inevitably come across looking forced and contrived. The story and acting in Pretty woman, while very obviously being "Hollywood" to a tee, are so natural and free flowing, that it's just a joy to watch this. It's also great to see(in what's not usually the case) a romantic comedy that gets it right, in every area from casting to dialog to pretty much everything from start to finish. Great movie!

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.

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.