Gary Marshall is perhaps best known for his golden television era. He was the mastermind behind such shows as Happy Days, The Odd Couple, and Laverne And Shirley, going so far to cast his daughter as Laverne in two of the shows and as a secretary in the other. What appears to get lost in that part of his resume is that he created what has been described as the ultimate chick flick. I don’t mean the term in a derogatory manner, but just like guys love to see Clint Eastwood making our day or Bruce Willis shouting yippee kiyay, women love fairy tales. Most have dreams that a prince charming is going to ride in on a white horse, or in this case a silver Lotus, and take them away from their mundane lives. Of course, then they wake up to…well… us. And just like most guys come to the inescapable conclusion that we can’t fall off a ten story building and run away from it, demolish a cement truck with our bare fists, or lasso a helicopter to the ground, it doesn’t mean we don’t buy into the fantasy again and again. Pretty Woman is the ultimate in live action modern day fairy tales. Even one of the characters in the film describes it all as Cinderella. Of course, Cinderella never turned tricks at $100 an hour, at least not the version Uncle Walt told us, but this is absolutely a Cinderella story complete with all of the trimmings. So, maybe I’m the wrong person to review the film, since I certainly don’t fit the demographic. Still, I wasn’t totally unhappy with the experience.
Film
Vivian (Roberts) is a hooker who gets $100 an hour in Hollywood. She’s having some trouble meeting the rent, so I guess she hasn’t been putting in too many hours. When a silver Lotus drives up her block she sees the rent money and sashays over to the car. The driver is multibillionaire Edward Lewis. He makes fortunes by buying vulnerable companies, stripping them for parts, and unloading them. He’s in L.A. to close a business deal, and he’s lost. He’s only pulling up to the corner to ask for directions. Vivian agrees to show him how to get back to his hotel for 20 bucks. Once there, Lewis invites her to his room, mostly just to pay for her time and not really for sex. He pays her to spend the night for $300 but spends the night either watching television or working. When his lawyer (Alexander) tells him he’ll have some evening engagements as part of his deal, they decide having a date would look better. He negotiates a $3000 payment plus clothes and staying in the swanky penthouse suite for Vivian being his escort for the week. During the week they begin to be attracted to each other, and Lewis begins to lose his killer instinct in the board room.
Pretty Woman is also the film that made Julia Roberts. Before this film she was a relative unknown. Her performance in this film is certainly notable, and it’s not surprising that she was quickly in demand, eventually leading up to her Oscar. While I really don’t seek out opportunities to watch this kind of film, I can’t fault anything in Roberts’ performance as why I wouldn’t enjoy the film. She does an admirable job of exhibiting the changes in Vivian. At first she’s very childlike, picking everything up and looking very wide-eyed. As the film progresses she begins to gain some self respect, thanks in part to a sympathetic hotel manager played quite charmingly by Hector Elizondo. I have to admit that I bought into the transformation. There was Hollywood speculation at the time that Roberts and Gere were becoming an off screen item, more testament to both performances. There was also wide speculation that the two would continue to work together with hopes of a new Bogart and Bacall, but the less than stellar Runaway Bride would be their only other picture together. Look for an amusing performance by Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander as Gere’s lawyer in the film. You might not recognize him here because he still has hair. Also look for a compelling performance by Ralph Bellamy, from Universal’s The Wolf Man. He plays Lewis’s latest prey, the owner of a struggling company. This wasn’t the only film in which Bellamy dealt with a Lewis. Trading Places was one of his funniest performances. Gere is actually somewhat of a weak link in this picture. He doesn’t appear to display much passion for anything. Even once he’s discovered his feelings, he never blooms as a character. I guess in a film like this it’s his looks that satisfy the target audience.
While there are some rather nice performances here, make no mistake, this is still a fairy tale. There is nothing even remotely believable in the movie at all. It’s hard to imagine that a sharp business man like Lewis would be so naïve when it comes to picking up a hooker. In the middle of a very important take-over the last thing he’d need is a very public bust, particularly when he isn’t looking for sex anyway. He makes his financial transaction is a very public way that would just be too stupid in reality. On Vivian’s part, I find it hard to believe she’s also so innocent and naive. Maybe Marshall thinks it’s a common male fantasy to find that elusive innocent hooker. Talk about your fairy tales. In the end it’s a harmless enough film that won’t burden your guy too terribly much. It’ll make a good date night. Just remember that if you get your guy to go for it, it’s blowing crap up next date night, deal?
Video
Pretty Woman is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. I’m not really sure how to describe this 1080p image. It’s built using an AVC/MPEG-4 codec. The problem is that it is terribly inconsistent. There are moments when colors pop like you wouldn’t believe. Roberts walking around in the famous red dress is an outstanding display of color and sharpness. There are other moments, even outside and well lit, like the polo tournament, where the picture appears rather dull and exhibits too much surface noise. Black levels are usually pretty solid. Detail, again, is hit or miss here. I found moments of startling detail soon followed by an almost standard definition looking presentation. The bit rate was usually a respectable average of 33mbps. I found the visual presentation to be a bit of a puzzle.
Audio
The PCM uncompressed 5.1 track clocks in at a very impressive 6.9 mbps. Still, it’s a rather plain mix for the most part. It’s not anyone’s fault. The film is primarily a dialog piece and offers very little chance for anything to be going on in the surrounds. The source music is at times rather dynamic and takes full advantage of the surround channels. You can hear everything just fine, but don’t look for your sub to come alive here.
There is an Audio Commentary with director Gary Marshall. This is a very matter of fact commentary and quite dry. It’s great if you’re studying the film, but has little entertainment value.
Special Features
Unfortunately all of the extras are in standard definition and merely port over from the 15th Anniversary release on DVD.
- Bloopers: Just three minutes of mostly awkward Julia Roberts moments.
- Live From The Wrap Party: This is a bit surprising. It’s camcorder footage that someone took of members of the cast, including Gary Marshall on drums, playing music. The sound is really, really bad.
- L.A. – The Pretty Woman Tour: Gary Marshall serves as your tour guide to the L.A. locations used during the film. It’s an interactive affair, where you click on locations via a map menu.
- 1990 Production Featurette: This 4 minute feature is an old promo for the film and is nothing more than an extended trailer.
- Music Video: Natalie Cole performs Wild Women Do.
Final Thoughts
While this movie was released in 1990, it is very much a 1980’s film. From the styles to the music and including the very film stock, it’s a badly dated affair. That likely will reduce its appeal to present and future generations. It was once a pretty big deal but has fallen rapidly in demand over the years. I’m not sure that a Blu-ray version with nothing new to offer beyond a very mundane high definition transfer will do much to change things. Enjoy it as a date movie, or better yet “veg out and watch TV”.
