Pretty Woman (1990)

A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writer:

J.F. Lawton

Stars:

Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Edward Lewis
Julia Roberts	...	Vivian Ward
Ralph Bellamy	...	James Morse
Jason Alexander	...	Philip Stuckey
Laura San Giacomo	...	Kit De Luca
Alex Hyde-White	...	David Morse
Amy Yasbeck	...	Elizabeth Stuckey
Elinor Donahue	...	Bridget
Hector Elizondo	...	Barney Thompson
Judith Baldwin	...	Susan
Jason Randal	...	Magician
Bill Applebaum	...	Howard
Tracy Bjork	...	Female Guest
Gary Greene	...	Male Guest
Billy Gallo	...	Carlos (as William Gallo)

Storyline

Edward is a rich, ruthless businessman who specializes in taking over companies and then selling them off piece by piece. He travels to Los Angeles for a business trip and decides to hire a prostitute. They take a liking to each other and he offers her money if she'll stay with him for an entire week while he makes the "rich and famous" scene (since it doesn't do for a man of his stature to be alone at society parties and polo matches). Romantic comedy (and complications) ensue.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | prince | businessman | money | escort | 

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Taglines:

Who knew it was so much fun to be a hooker?

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Japanese

Release Date:

23 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

$ 3,000

Filming Locations:

Giorgio Beverly Hills - 273 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$178,406,268 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 125 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Winona Ryder did an audition for the role of Vivian, but had to turn down, because director Garry Marshall felt that she was too young for the character.

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Goofs

During the polo match Edward is shown wearing a straight-collar and the tie that Vivian gave to him as a gift, tied with a half-windsor. A later shot shows Edward with a spread-collar and that same tie, but with a full-windsor knot. As the scene progresses, the shot of Edward alternates back and forth between the straight and spread-collar (even with a shot of the spread-collar with a half-windsor knot).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Magician at party: No matter what they say, it's all about money. So let's imagine, ladies, that you're a savings and loan officer. Watch - one, two, three; see, you've got it all, and we've got nothing. You've got all four, take a look.

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Connections

References Field of Dreams (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Vivaldi: Spring (The Four Seasons)"
As arranged and performed by Charlotte Georg (as Lee Ashley)
Courtesy of Capitol Production Music / Ole Georg

User Reviews

15 years later and it still sucks.

The first time I saw this was when I was with a date, and she thought it was an awesome movie. I didn't.

The second time I saw this was last night on TV. It still sucks.

As a love story this sucks. As having Julia portray a street hooker, this is repulsive. To me she was a librarian with a miniskirt and heels. She had no tough shell to her. She wasn't tortured, anguished, enraged, starving or anything else. Her "HOOKER" character was so flawed, like comparing a cubic zircon to a diamond. The two simply don't fit, no matter what they look like.

The ONLY cast I felt was worth watching was the 2 bitchy saleswomen, whom were excellently cast. They did such a fine job that I hated them for the few seconds that they were on screen. They had real definition, for the minor roles. OK, so the movie wasn't entirely trash...the two ignorant saleswomen saved the film.

Aside from those two women sales people, the rest of the cast...including the big names was just crap. Either everybody was an ass-kisser or had absolutely no reason to fill any dialog in the movie aside from just complimenting Julia Roberts or kissing ass to Richard Gere.

This was a movie about how when you walk around in high-heels and a tight skirt in Beverly Hills, people leer at you and guys who work in hotels gawk as if they just had a baseball bat struck to their face.

While in reality, the women who are dressed to the nines in Beverly Hills are hookers and prostitutes to a higher degree, but since they aren't wearing the gaudy Madonna looking jewelry or the patent boots, they can look down on the others who do.

The hotel cast was sickeningly sad to watch, and anybody who had any real character had less than a minute of screen time.

This is an insult to romantic movies, comedies, dramas and even to prostitutes who face wealthy customers on a daily basis with hopes of having their lives work out perfect.

The story is about Julia Roberts being PIMPED (yes PIMPED) by a multimillionaire in a business suit and limousine.

She is still owned, still told how to act, how to move, what to wear, what to say, where to go and what to do. He is more controlling than a street pimp, but the folks at Disney/buena vista butter it up to make it easier to swallow.

Had Richard Gere been a black man with a gold tooth and an AK-47 at his side instead of an attaché case, this movie would be about how a woman has to struggle to get away from the harshness of prostitution. Same story, different characters will make a very different outlook.

Oh yeah, change the white man for a black man or Asian or Spanish, have the land business deal be changed to a deal of weapons or narcotics and the entire concept of romantic comedy is thrown away.

As far as I'm concerned, Pretty Woman is still trash, dressed with ribbons and bows.

I didn't like it 15 years ago, when I didn't understand it and was led by the Hollywood hype. I hate it now that i can see past the pretty decorations that is called "love".

This movie is NOT a romantic comedy. It's a story on how to control a woman as long as you have the means and income to do so.

This is an insult to strong women, weak women and women in general, as well as to my television screen.

Do I hate it? Yes. Does it suck? Yes Would I recommend it to you? NO...well maybe if I really hated you.

Will this review get posted? We'll see.

Anywayz, that's all for now.