Review(s): DVD Pretty Woman (15th Anniversary Special Edition)
It Is a Fairy Tale - And it has a moral
There seems to be two schools of thought regarding this movie. There are those who are unable to see past Julia's profession, and all it might entail, and there are those who see how someone who clearly had to make a bad choice one day realized it, and along the way helped someone else realize the bad choices they had made. It's all a charming fairy tale that I have watched over and over again.
Julia Roberts does play a prostitute. However, as the movie unfolds we find out why. Further, we also find that Julia is, as she must be, human, and has the same core values that most of us have. Richard Gere helps her realize during their discussions that she made a poor choice, and eventually Julia realizes that she can be and wants to be more than she is.
During Julia's journey of discovery she also makes Richard Gere question the path in life that he has chosen. Richard buys companies, takes them apart, and sells the pieces for more than he paid for them. While it has made Richard a very wealthy man, Julia questions the value that Richard brings to the world. As Julia realizes that she wants more self-fulfillment in her life, Richard realizes that he wants to be constructive instead of destructive.
Julia's character could have been played in an exploitive way that demeaned her character, and her character's profession. Instead, I thought the subject was handled sensitively and well. Julia several times could have behaved just as Richard would have expected someone in her profession, and yet, she showed that she had pride and values, and she stuck to them, even to her detriment. Ultimately Richard Gere, and the audience, comes to admire Julia Roberts as a strong woman with an incredible will.
In addition to Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is an outstanding supporting cast, including Laura San Giacomo as Julia's friend and roommate, and who gives Julia no end of despair in her choices. Hector Elizondo plays Barney Thompson, the hotel manager. He makes the role and steals every scene in which he appears. Jason Alexander plays a rather despicable right hand man to Richard Gere; calloused, ruthless and crude. Ralph Bellamy is the head of a business that Richard Gere is attempting to take over, and who gives Richard the best compliment in the entire film, marking a turning point in Richard Gere's attitude about what he does. There is a long list of other actors that made many of the scenes in this movie funny and sometimes poignant. Better you should watch this movie and find out for yourself.
This movie is one of Richard Gere and Julia Robert's best films. We have both the video tape and the DVD, and have watched both multiple times, and will likely watch the DVD many more times. Funny and often touching, this is a wonderful film for adults with a soft spot in their hearts for underdogs and believing that good things happen to good people.
Cinderella Romantic Comedy
It's been quite a few years since I've watched this "classic" pairing of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. The movie is full of great dialogue and situational humor and a realistic development between both characters. There were a few instances where the leads weren't in their best form when it came to acting ability, but I imagine we'll see a 25th-Anniversary version on the shelves. I think people will want to see this movie for awhile.
An AMAZING movie!
This is a classic- MUST HAVE for everyone who loves a good romantic comedy!
The 90s quailty is sooooooo not bad in this movie and plays well even tho its 2006.
Great quality DVD, great movie, adorable plot!
YAY!
Related DVD's Pretty Woman (15th Anniversary Special Edition)
It took nearly a decade to find a mutually agreeable screenplay, but the stars and director of Pretty Woman finally reunited to make Runaway Bride, wisely avoiding any attempt to recapture the 1990 film's elusive magic. The result is a perfectly pleasant romantic comedy that would've fared better critically (despite boffo box office) if it hadn't been overshadowed by its blockbuster predecessor. It's certainly a more credible film than Pretty Woman, trading a far-fetched fairy tale (hooker hooks up with tycoon? bah!) for a more amiably conventional plot about big-city reporter Ike Graham (Richard Gere) who falls for a small-town handywoman Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) with a nasty habit of fleeing from the altar in a recurring state of premarital panic.
Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze are the passionate lovers whose romance is undone when the latter is murdered during a bungled hit arranged by a rival. The clever concept by screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (director of My Life) extends outward into comedy (Swayze's character communicates through a sassy medium played by Whoopi Goldberg, who won an Oscar for this role), horror (the afterlife is populated by hell-bound demons and the like), and romantic complications (a handsome suitor, played by Tony Goldwyn, comes on to Moore while Swayze's spirit is still hanging around). Directed by Jerry Zucker, previously best known for codirecting Airplane! and similar broad comedies, Ghost is a careful balancing act of strong commercial elements, but at heart it is a timeless... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jerry Zucker DVD Release Date: Released the 24 April 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As with Grease (1978) and Footloose (1984) before it, Dirty Dancing was a cultural phenomenon that now plays more like camp. That very campiness, though, is part of its biggest charm. And if the dancing in the movie doesn't seem particularly "dirty" by today's standards--or 1987's--it does take place in an era (the early '60s) when it would have. Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey, daughter of ageless hoofer Joel Grey) has been vacationing in the Catskills with her family for many years. Uneventfully. One summer, she falls under the sway (as it were) of dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). Baby is a pampered pup, but Johnny is a man of the world. Baby's father, Jake (Law and Order's Jerry Orbach), can't see the basic decency in greaser... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jennifer Grey - Patrick Swayze DVD Release Date: Released the 09 December 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Richard Gere plays an enrollee at a Naval officers candidate school, and Debra Winger is the woman who wants him. That's pretty much it, story-wise, in this romantic drama, which is more effective in a moment-to-moment, scene-by-scene way, where the two stars and Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr.--as Gere's tough-as-nails drill instructor--are fun to watch. Sexy, syrupy, with occasional pitches of high drama (Gere having a near-breakdown during training is pretty strong), An Officer and a Gentleman proves to be a no-brainer date movie. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Gere - Debra Winger Director(s): Taylor Hackford DVD Release Date: Released the 12 December 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Much will be made of Julia Roberts's wardrobe in Erin Brockovich--a brash parade of daring hemlines and Wonderbra confidence. Roberts is unabashedly sexy in the title role of this fact-based comedy-drama, but she and director Steven Soderbergh are far too intelligent to rely solely on high heels and cleavage. Susannah Grant's brassy screenplay fuels this winning combination of star, director, and material, firing on all pistons with maximum efficiency. With Ed Lachman, his noted cinematographer from The Limey, Soderbergh tackles this A-list project with the fervor of an independent, combining a no-frills look with kinetic panache and the same brisk editorial style he used in the justly celebrated Out of Sight.
