Frankie & Johnny

Love CAN be scary. Especally if you don't expect it. This movie is very good at describing how love can be. Fate can bring two people together. Believe in it. And how perfect the theme song Clair de Lune is. It's worth a listen. Love can happen....only if you believe in it.

This film is simply great. One of the reasons I like it is that here romance is not reduced to some sappy idealistic fable, but is instead shown as realistically as life itself. There are no fantastic events or stretches of plausibility here. Just great performances and a well-written story. In short, this is what real movie-making is all about.

After their brief encounter in SCARFACE, Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer were reunited for FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, a charming romantic comedy about an ex-con hired to work at a restaurant where he falls in love with one of the waitresses there. I absolutely love this move...Pacino has rarely been more sexy and appealing on screen and no matter how much they tried to make her look like a Plain Jane, Michelle Pfeiffer is just beautiful and also gives a very affecting performance as the repressed Frankie, afraid to release the love she has to give due to a troubled romantic past. Pacino and Pfeiffer make the most of a clever script, buoyed by Garry Marshall's sure-footed direction and solid comic support from Nathan Lane, Kate Nelligan (hysterically funny as another waitress at the restaurant) and Marshall's good luck charm, Hector Elizondo, as the restaurant owner. A warm romantic comedy with an unexpectedly quiet denouement.

The first time I saw this movie, I fell in love. The second time around, I was already in love, watching it with my love who also fell in love and now we're all in love. All because of this movie.

Set in New York, the movie deals with loneliness, different ways of coping or letting go, it deals with love, the yearning for it and also the fear of it, this magical feeling you almost don't dare hope for. The simple but genuine approach to these important themes makes the story stand out and makes you want to believe, because deep inside you already do.

You can tell the movie is based on a play, primarily because of the special atmosphere created by the careful progression of the story, scene by scene, not to mention the wonderful and individual characters we get acquainted with. Both Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino make outstanding performances and the on screen chemistry between the two is perfect.

This is an absolute must see for all you dreamers out there, and if you ever come across the play, you probably should check that out as well. Remember, the elephant must face the window and a VCR will never be a substitute for love. Sit down with this movie, and I promise you, from the first shot of the Greyhound accompanied by Terence Trent D'Arby's wonderful title track, you'll never want it to end.

You have to give the filmmakers credit: they did attempt to deglamorize Michelle Pfeiffer to fit into Kathy Bates' off-Broadway role of a waitress with no prospects who finds herself attracted to the new cook at the restaurant. Michelle's innate sparkle manages to shine through the dowdy clothes and plain-Jane appearance, and yet the miraculous thing is, her casting doesn't hurt the movie and her performance is one of the best things about "Frankie and Johnny". Pfeiffer and Al Pacino are a good screen match, and if they don't especially resemble the characters they're playing, they at least don't throw the tone out of whack (this is a Garry Marshall movie after all, so it's bound to have a bumpy narrative). Terrence McNally's play was about hard truths and sex on a low income; this is a big, charming commercial comedy-drama, directed with energy but no real flair. Pacino lays on the Prince Charming-pizazz a bit heavily, and Nathan Lane works overtime at being adorable as the proverbial gay best friend, but it certainly isn't a bad movie. It works on a certain level, even if it doesn't resemble reality or the original play. *** from ****