Long Legs --- Pretty Woman --- (Film Review 2)

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Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) is a stinking rich businessman whose speciality is to buy firms on their way down to bankruptcy for cheap money, cut them into small sections and sell them off at a high price. Once when in LA for business, he gets lost and asks a young woman, Vivian Ward, (Julia Roberts) for directions. When he realises that she is a hooker, he engages her for one night to keep him company in the penthouse suite of a posh hotel and then for a whole week. He gets an attractive companion he can show off with at social meetings and she 3000 $ - a good deal for both. How the relationship develops and changes the two people is the content of the story. The general plot line is predictable because Pretty Woman belongs to the genre of RomComs which has a long history in Hollywood. They usually contain two interrelated topics, namely the taming of a recalcitrant or frivolous woman through an attractive and humorous man but also the reverse situation. The man, too fixed on job and career falls in love with an 'easier', fun-loving woman who helps him break out of his shell and enjoy life. Yet, what doesn’t really work here is that Vivian is no real partner for Edward, neither socially nor intellectually. She in herself is nothing. She only becomes a partner for Edward through his doings. There's no denying that by accepting both, Vivian becomes his dependant servant. Even if she goes back to college and works on her education as she plans to do in the future, she'll never be on a par with him. Having licked blood (i.e., tasted the good life) she can't go back to her own people, either. This means she'll be an outsider for the rest of her life. In my opinion, Richard Gere’s acting ability in Pretty Woman leaves a lot to be desired. Although he develops feelings for Vivian and discovers that he's got a human heart after all, he acts and looks more or less the same all the time. We get more from Julia Roberts. The way the hooker is sashaying up and down the sidewalk on her long legs is unforgettable. She looks like a giraffe gliding through the savannah. Her long legs (3.60 ft each) are later put to therapeutic use in a famous bath tub scene which is one of the funny moments of the film. Of course, dressed up in the most expensive clothes and jewellery, Julia Roberts is also impressive. In my opinion she far outshines Richard Gere. The topic of prostitution must be mentioned as well. The title of the film could also have been Happy Hooker. If it weren't for Vivian's flatmate (Kit de Luca) who offers a glimpse into a life with pimps and drugs, we might think that being a hooker isn't so bad after all. As if finding a fairy tale prince were a realistic option for a 'pretty woman walking down the street'! All things considered I'm of the opinion that in this film a well made, shiny surface covers a disturbing message. If it weren't for Julia Roberts, the song Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison and Gerry Marshall's jaunty directing, three stars would be enough. If you think I'm making too much of a harmless, little film (and an ‘old’ one from 1990), let me tell you that subtle messages can have as much impact as ones transmitted with a sledgehammer. Listen to the song which has become famous with the film! https://www.google.de/search?client=opera&q=pretty+woman+song&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 ----- Link for the trailer: If you're interested in my other film reviews, click on the green line at the top of the site (Malus Film Reviews)