Frankie and Johnny 1991   R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hector Elizondo, Nathan Lane, Kate Nelligan, Jane Morris, Greg Lewis, Glenn Plummer, Harvey Miller, K Callan, Al Fann, Ele Keates
Based on Terrence McNally's great play, this movie adaptation is about the romance of cynical waitress Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and just-released-from-prison short-order cook Johnny (Al Pacino). 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | More than the sum of its parts | 1fatts 10/28/2007 | There are reasons this film should not work. It does not transfer well from its theatrical origins: there are "speeches" that are too clearly "speeches"; too many characters are stereotypical "New York menagerie of mankind." The ending is cornball by anyone's standards.
And yet the film DOES work, by and large. Credit to a really good cast and a more quiet control of tone and pacing than one generally expects from Garry Marshall. True, Michelle Pfeiffer is too pretty for the part, but she projects a quiet, sad emptiness which is convincing, even moving, and forms the center of the piece. And, true, Al Pacino can't quite pull off an optimistic innocent, but he is genuinely likable, and you pull for him.
We are ready to extend our suspension of disbelief a little farther than we might usually do because these are characters we care for, people who have not had an easy time of it and could use a break; and we are willing to gloss over the sit-com slickness of some of it to allow them the break. We would really like them to have a shot at doing better.
. . . and it helps if you like Clair de lune. |
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 Runaway Bride 1999  PG, 116 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack, Hector Elizondo, Rita Wilson, Paul Dooley, Christopher Meloni, Reg Rogers, Yul Vazquez, Jean Schertler, Donal Logue, Jane Morris, Lisa Roberts Gillan, Tom Hines, Kathleen Marshall
When New York columnist Ike Graham (Richard Gere) publishes a story about a bride who gets skittish at the altar and has left grooms standing in her wake the real "bride" Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) sends Ike's editor a scathing letter that results in Ike getting fired. Ike heads for Maggie's hometown hoping to write about her next wedding fiasco. What he doesn't count on is falling in love with Maggie himself.
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 True Lies 1994 R, 142 min.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Comedy / Thriller / Romance
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, Art Malik, Eliza Dushku, Marshall Manesh, Jane Morris, Grant Heslov, James Allen, Crystina Wyler, Dieter Rauter, Katsy Chappell
From the director of "The Terminator" comes another thriller. Superspy Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) poses as a computer salesman. He is so good at the disguise that even his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) has not suspected his double life. When he learns that Helen is having an affair, he uses his equipment to monitor her activities. Meanwhile, Tasker is on the trail of Middle Eastern terrorist Salim Abu Aziz (Art Malik) who has formed a terrorist network, "Crimson Jihad." They are threatening to nuke the U.S. Now, Harry must stop the terrorists and save his marriage in the process. This film is filled with exciting action as Harry and Gib (Tom Arnold) fight the terrorists; even Helen gets into the act of saving the world in this very funny spoof of adventure films.
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| 1. Frankie and Johnny (1991)
2. Runaway Bride (1999)
3. True Lies (1994)
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