Review: Pretty Woman

Directed by: Garry Marshall

Written by: J.F. Lawton

Starring: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ralph Bellamy, Jason Alexander, Héctor Elizondo

Rating: [3.5/5]

Movie stars have a way of amplifying their magnetism and completely take over a film by the ways that make them special. Everything else can fall away simply because when that movie star is operating at such a high level, any other deficiencies the film may have will not matter as much. Finding another film that has this happen more than in Pretty Woman will take some work, as Julia Roberts goes on the charm offensive and completely carries this story. 

Applying her trade as a sex worker on the streets of Los Angeles, Vivian (Julia Roberts) gets picked up by businessman Edward (Richard Gere) as he wants directions to his hotel. As he pays her for a night of service, he offers her compensation to spend the entire week with him as he sets to close another deal that will destroy a family business but rake in plenty of cash for him. 

Often when writing about romantic comedies I mention the importance of the chemistry of the two leads and how that can elevate the quality of the film beyond the material they receive. Well in this feature Julia Roberts does enough for the pair given the lackluster work she had to work against. As Vivian, she enters the fray as such a spunky and lively woman entering this world of high society even if only for a week and completely shines brighter than everything else in this feature. A performance that defines what power a movie star could have in a production simply by utilizing her world-famous smile. On the many occasions where Vivian feels moments of joy, it creates such a feeling of elation that it brightens up the entire screen. A type of magnetism that Richard Gere’s Edward did not contribute to this film. 

The central dynamic of the film does raise some intriguing questions about the mechanics of not how these two would spend time together physically but rather how someone like Vivian will look to others when she enters temporarily into a new class system because of the compensation received.  After all, he’s not paying her just to stay in his room and wait for his return each night, but gives her money to buy new clothes as they will go out on the town together for business purposes. Therefore, Vivian now needs to present herself to those in Edward’s circle and these scenes bring some comedic moments but also some deeply sad ones. We have those fish-out-of-water moments where she does not understand the norms of how people at that level of wealth behave, but also the scenes where the class disparity does present itself that belittles our lead character in ways this film does not have too much interest in exploring given the genre but still exists. This appears with the hotel manager Barney (Héctor Elizondo) and the shop clerks at a clothing store that dismiss her immediately when she walks into their Rodeo Drive establishment. 

Romantic comedies do not have an obligation to do a deep dive in these sorts of subjects, but when it directly informs the other lead character in Edward, we should pay attention to it because it explains his world and how he thrusts Vivian right into it. This ultimately displays what makes Edward far from a captivating character. Gere sleeps his way through this performance that begs the question of what in the world does Vivian see in this guy that gets her to break her important rule of not kissing any client of hers on the lips. It becomes quite obvious this feature falls into the dreaded trap of wealth being the main point of attraction for the male lead, as they provide nothing else. Therefore, this becomes not necessarily a recognizable romance but how much money could a man throw at a woman to make herself believe she has fallen in love with him. Now, this is not to say we should have gotten more of an in-depth look at this character given it would take away from the real star of the show but the other romantic lead should at least give something in rounding out what should be a pairing worth rooting for. 

Once again, none of it matters when experiencing this film because of what Julia Roberts does as a Vivian. This film has its host of issues that I could not ignore upon my first viewing, where I deeply disliked it when looking at the dynamic of the relationship and this underbaked redemption arc for Edward as a character. However, when given it another chance, the experience increased exponentially because of the magnetism of Roberts where one could easily just enjoy everything she does with this character that rightfully launched her into stardom. She’s that fantastic in this film, which leaves me feeling positively about this project as a whole.