It’s nearly nine years since we first saw the film ‘Pretty Woman’. It’s considered almost a classic nowadays, and is the film that first made Julia Roberts’ name - I had forgotten that it was made as long ago as 1990, and that she was only 21 when it was produced.
Roberts plays Vivian, who is a prostitute in New York. This is not the kind of scenario that would usually draw me into a film, but although the situation is very sleazy, and Vivian’s clothes extremely revealing, there’s nothing explicit. It doesn’t seem as if she quite fits the scene: I can’t tell what kind of accent she has, but despite her clothes she comes across as rather more sophisticated than her friends.
Richard Gere is the co-star, playing a very wealthy businessman called Edward. He is divorced and has just broken from a long-term relationship, basically because he’s never available to her. And, indeed, we see him in his office, consulting with his lawyer, making deals. It turns out that he doesn’t actually trade in or make anything as such; he buys failing businesses, divides them up into smaller entities (often destroying their original aims) and then sells them at a massive profit. And he’s very good at his job.
He’s on his way to a hotel in preparation for concluding another business deal when he gets lost in the neighbourhood where Vivian works. She tries to solicit him, but he explains that he just wants directions. She offers to show him where the hotel is, at a cost… and he agrees. He even lets her drive when she starts criticising his style, and then - somewhat against his better judgement, it seems - he invites her to stay the night with him.
Edward needs an elegant woman to accompany him to some business dinners, and suggests Vivienne might like to stay longer, and fulfil this role… after which she has to buy elegant and expensive clothes (on his credit card), and learn which fork to use for each course….
The story is essentially a modern take on ‘My Fair Lady’ (which of course is based on the classic ‘Pygmalion’). And it works very well. The script is good, and Julia Roberts is excellent, gradually learning to like being surrounded by luxury - and also to be much too fond of Edward. There’s some humour, some poignancy, and a slightly overdone (but entirely satisfying) fairytale-style ending.
We weren’t so impressed with Richard Gere, however. As a businessman in a suit he is mostly believable - incisive, hard-hearted, determined to make as much money as he can, irrelevant of anyone else’s preferences. However his expression rarely changes - he has a kind of slightly amused look on his face all the time, no matter who he’s speaking to, and while it’s easy to see why he is attracted to Vivienne, it’s not obvious at all that he is. Unsurprisingly his heart begins to soften a little, but neither his voice nor his face change, and it’s a bit hard to believe in his transformation.
On the other hand, he proves to be an unexpectedly talented pianist.
On the other hand, we absolutely loved Hector Elizondo as the hotel manager Barney; he was the perfect mixture of formal and friendly, following the rules but acknowledging that some of his best clients sometimes break them. Some of the best scenes involve him, often with Vivien too.
It was revealing to see the attitude of some people to young women in Vivian’s profession - and how a credit card can get pretty much anything, at least in the world in which Edward lives. The amount of money he earns - and pays - seems astronomical, and that’s thinking about today’s money in a film that’s now thirty years old.
The rating is 15, which seems about right. There’s not a great deal of bad language, and only one real scene of violence, which is short-lived, although there are other threatened ones. And of course there’s a lot of discussion of what prostitutes do, and some scenes of intimacy, although most are implied and there’s nothing too explicit. In the slightly more prudish US censorship system it's rated R, which is equivalent to a UK 18.
It’s not, in any case, the kind of film that would be of any interest at all to most children or younger teens - or even older teens, necessarily, as Edward comes across as staid, almost middle-aged.
But for those over 18 wanting a good light romantic story, with a bit of humour, and who doesn’t mind the theme, I would recommend it highly.
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