Sorry, this movie sucks

People are voting emotionally.

Admirable film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I just don't get the one thing. Gere has black hair on the movie poster but he has grey hair through the whole movie. I love him anyway. But I think details are important.

Hired by a rich businessman to be his date for a week, a prostitute has to work out if the businessman is serious about his romantic advances towards her in this romantic comedy that propelled Julia Roberts to fame. A popular movie when first released, 'Pretty Woman' has received some backlash over the years for its lack of realism and indeed one has to suspend disbelief at how kind-hearted both protagonists are. There is enough snappy dialogue though to keep things moving along; "we both screw people for money" Richard Gere comments at one point, while his observation that "stores are never nice to people... they're nice to credit cards" offers some unexpected social commentary for a lighthearted film like this is. The other big plus is the talented supporting cast. Hector Elizondo is delightful in a Golden Globe nominated role as a prim and proper hotel proprietor who gradually warms towards Roberts while Jason Alexander is a lot of fun as Gere's cunning lawyer. Realism aside, the biggest issue with the film is how little Roberts changes over the course of the film. This is no 'Pygmalion' or 'My Fair Lady' tale in which we see a noticeable difference in the protagonist as a result of her experiences. Still, it is a pleasant enough movie with some really funny moments (Roberts commenting on an opera) in between the clichés.

About this movie enough to say one thing: "It's standard", in the broadest sense of the word. The standard of the love of melodrama. Sample of the lyric comedy. The standard of harmonious combination of literary text and visual image. The measure of a whole generation of movies of the 1990s: Indecent proposal, Sleepless in Seattle, French kiss, You've got mail, Notting Hill, etc. After receiving the baton from the cinema of the 1980s, in which the romantic side of the relationship was imbued with a hint of nostalgic sadness, film made by Garry Marshall sets a new vector in understanding when and from which arises the situation of attraction between a man and a woman. The fact of how at first the Director had planned to remove social drama (millionaire + prostitute addicted to drugs), and then was forced to switch to lyric comedy, is well known. Thanks to this fact approach to the conflict between a man and a woman remained as a real drama. For example. The film is saturated with a large number of contrasts: a pessimistic smart hero and an optimistic beautiful heroine, a world of pure luxury and a dark place of depravity, a large planned business and a small random freelance. There are a lot of different details in the cultural area of the film. Every detail is like a little story. It has its place, its important phrase, its directorial promise. Prostitution is not the easiest way of getting money. We know it from the first minute of the film, when Vivian sees the body of her friend-hooker in the street. To further this thought is repeated in different ways. There are many similar details in the life of the heroine and in the fate of "Ladies with camellias". Basically, a comedy is an easy movie. The audience laughs when they see the problems of the hero. But when we see the Vivian's problems, we want to help her. The vulnerability and optimism of the heroine is strong parts of her image. Vivian appears before Edward as the cute baby and as the fury, as the plain man and as the posh woman, as the nerdy and as the neophyte. Russian writer Ivan Bogdanovich said: "My Darling! You are very beautiful in any clothes". The phrase reflects the Vivian's attractiveness. For me, she is not Cinderella (A lot of people think so). For me, she is a sort of "mistress into maid". She is beautiful, playful, assertive and wise every day.

I remember watching this film when it first came out. Even as someone who at the time did not care for romantic comedies, I actually liked it. I mean, it was not another Eisenstein or Kubrick, but for what it was, it worked for me. That was some quarter of a century ago.Then, recently I started watching all those romantic comedies that I avoided over the years, and this one came up. Why not - let's see how I feel about it now.And I must admit, I was stunned, in the most positive way! Again, this is not Citizen Kane or City Lights. It is a fair tale set in the modern times, but what I loved about it, now that I have a few more years of experience under my belt, was that it was crafted with incredible attention to detail. Everything, and I mean EVERY little thing was done impeccably: the smooth setup at the beginning, gentle and interesting enough that we are never bothered by how unrealistic it is. The dialogues which are never forced. Scenery, which obviously being set in Beverly Hills could not be better. And finally, the ending which works so well.I generally don't believe in films created by a committee. Pretty Woman went through so many re-writes and test screenings that one cannot recognize the original idea in the final result. The original was supposed to be a gritty story about a hooker, and while more realistic, it could never achieve what the fairy tale story about a nice hooker with a big heart could achieve - that great feeling that there is still love in the world that maybe, just maybe, things could turn out really well for anyone. Yes, call me delusional or romantic, but all that really works in this film.They say that there was a lot of improvisation in the scenes, and they were shot many different ways. I have also seen other films by Gary Marshall and was not impressed at all. This is the only one I liked. I am tempted to believe that the director was helped by the editor or someone like that to polish out what must have started as diamond in the rough.Again, if you have not seen this film yet (highly unlikely), don't expect some "haute cinema"; but do expect some great fun, and a decent romance mixed together. One must admire the fact that such a fairy tale was made in modern times and that it manages to keep one believing in it. Never was I reminded that I was just watching a film - that's how well put together it is.