No one can ever be able to accuse me of being a film snob - last weekend I watched Pretty Woman. Now though many a man might at this point feel the need to defend their manliness and point out that they watched said film with their girlfriend (which I guess I am sort of doing with this statement), I am happy to hold my hands in the air and state that the film selection was mine. Having seen the DVD in her collection, and being aware that I had not seen it, the film-junkie that kicks around in my brain took over and I found myself suggesting that we might watch Julia Roberts and Richard Gere enter the 1990s with a classic of the Chick-Flick genre. Clearly no further persuasion was required, and the DVD (extended version - very much not required fyi) was set to play.
The very first thing that struck me about the film is how much Richard Gere has appeared to have aged since it was made, whereas Julia Roberts seems less-touched by the passing of 25 years. I suspect that this is because if you want to maintain film star status as a woman in Hollywood, you have to (with a couple of notable exceptions) look young, whereas men are allowed to age. Whatever else I thought about the film, it is interesting to think on it in this way - as a comment on early 21st century celebrity culture.
The plot is classic boy-meets-girl, Julia Roberts is Vivian, and Richard Gere is Edward. He is an ashen-faced corporate mogul who's boardroom dealings have left him bereft of humanity tired of life. She is an articulate prostitute operating on the streets of LA, her profession has left her unable to see the good in good in humanity or a future for herself. A chance encounter puts them in the same hotel room when Edward decides he wants some company (conversation only mind) for the evening, from there the plot writes itself. I am told that the charm of the film derives from the chemistry between Roberts and Gere, however the special edition that we were watching left me feeling rather cold towards them. Their initial encounter in the hotel room felt quite tedious and strung out, while revealing precious little about the characters. A classic case of film editing as an art form, and where simply adding more scenes doesn't help, and trimming back is what is needed. Fewer or shorter sequences within a scene like this can add to the pace, improve the tone and add a bit of sparkle to the characters. Less really is more.
We actually get very little character development throughout the film. There is little to tell us how Vivian got into the situation she is or why Edward decided to become a financial mogul. Neither character seems to suit the career they've allowed themselves to fall into. We are left to fill in a huge number of gaps and (I assume) project ourselves and our own values on to these characters. I guess therein lies the secret of the popular success of movies like this, that the audience is allowed to fill in the back-stories of the characters however they wish - a complete escapist fantasy.
All films are political - even Pretty Woman. On one hand you could be kind to the film and say it is a rejection of monetarist politics; witness our two characters, each of whom has forgotten how to connect on a human level because of their career choices - each of which involves making money by dehumanising people and being dehumanised in return. On the other hand you could say that film focuses very much on Vivian's material transformation, in which she becomes more of a real person when she's able to express herself through Edward's money. In this sense it's unsurprising that there's so little depth to the characters, they are foils for the politics of the day, a politics championed by Thatcher and Reagan that idolised monetary gains beyond anything human. Whatever else the film does, it appears to be a rejection of the idea that money is worth more than people.
The film ends exactly as one might predict, with each teaching the other a lesson about the world and Edward turning up to whisk Vivian away on the modern equivalent of the white horse of her medieval fantasy. It's not Citizen Kane, but then no-one should expect it to be. I'm not an idiot, I do get that films like this are designed as female escapist fantasies, in which our every-woman is whisked away by a gentleman wearing a suit. There are enough popcorn male fantasy films out there, so there's nothing wrong with a bit chick-flick balancing things back the other way.
A little over-long and clunky in places, Pretty Woman is a film I wont be falling over myself to see a second time. However it is watchable and certainly funny in places. It's status as a touchstone film for 1990s pop culture, means I am very glad to finally be able to give an opinion.
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