Pretty Woman (1990)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writer (WGA):

J.F. Lawton (written by)

Release Date:

23 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Prince | Escort | Polo | Money

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

$ 3,000 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and some language. (director's cut)

Runtime:

119 min | USA:125 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-3 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

617 S. Olive Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

An early version of the script had Vivian addicted to cocaine; part of the deal was that she had to stay off it for a week. She needed the money to go to Disneyland. Edward eventually throws her out of his car and drives off. The movie was scripted to end with Vivian and her prostitute friend on the bus to Disneyland.

Goofs:

Continuity: The pancake Vivian is eating was, for most of the scene, a croissant. Director Garry Marshall said he liked the performance she gave in the latter part of the scene better, so the croissant magically becomes a pancake, which she began to eat as they did more takes. While this may be the case, there is still a continuity issue. In the first scene with the pancake, she takes a second bite. In the next scene with the pancake in her hand, there is only one bite missing

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Childstar (2004)

Soundtrack:

Five For Louie

Just has that special something....

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!