Frankie and Johnny (1991)

Awesome Movie

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

With its smooth transition from stage to screen, "Frankie and Johnny" had a bit of a makeover from frumpy outcasts to a more sugary enhanced blue-collar romantic comedy. This was partially due to the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer who replaced Kathy Bates in the role of Frankie where the more dramatic edge becomes more in place. Pfeiffer was still very good in her performance and even through the not so glamorous greasy spoon diner that Frankie and Johnny (Al Pacino) work, the feel-good atmosphere is truly omnipresent the whole time though.Pfeiffer can't fully conceal her pearly white teeth to the camera as it does upstage her shadowy eyes and her disheveled hair which matches the atmosphere of the ragtag greasy spoon Greek diner where she waits tables. But still she does embody that natural humbleness and insecurity about her which comes at the attraction of Pacino's Johnny who can find her inner beauty better than her outer beauty.Pacino is naturally charismatic as newly reformed middle-aged man who has just been released from prison after serving time for writing bad checks. Now all he wants to do is start his life over. No sooner does Johnny find a job working as a cook at Apollo's owned by Nick (Hector Elizondo). As soon as he laid eyes on Frankie, he knew he found his true love. However, Frankie still can't find it that easy to commit his hard to resist charm. It's because she's never fully recovered from her last boyfriend who cheated on her.But Johnny will not stop in his quest to win her heart even we know very well in the end that Frankie and Johnny will become a couple. Though their struggles to gain each other's trust in romance is equally capricious as it is believable. It just feel natural that Frankie and Johnny would feel a bit of unease when they first become romantic to each other.Producer-director Garry Marshall succeeds in keeping up the warm and fuzzy feelings from his previous film "Pretty Woman". He brings his stars to the table and uses his manipulative craftiness for the next 90 minutes. It may be cheap, but the chemistry within both Pacino and Pfeiffer are very effective in their delivery.The script was written by original playwright Terence McNally based off of his original play "Frankie and Johnny in Le Claire de Lune". It's more laden with dialogue than the original screenplay, but still succeeds in keeping it believable and cleverly funny. Best part about the script was that it was written straight from the heart.Although it is billed as a Greek restaurant, the staff are quite ethnically diverse even though it is a family-run operation. Still anyone can truly feel at home, even the staff. The two main standouts include the seductive and cynical Cora (Kate Nelligan) and the frumpy but kindly Nedda (Jane Morris). While Cora's sexual innuendos can sizzle your gyros, it's Nedda's social awkwardness that churns in plenty of laughs.While Frankie can find reassurance from her neighbor down the hall Tim (Nathan Lane), one of the funniest gay men in comedy, it's Cora who gives more tough love for Frankie when it comes to romance in all her cynical glory.Although, we knew from the beginning the Frankie and Johnny will become a couple, it's still one of those heartfelt movies we can enjoy and Pacino and Pfeiffer have amazing chemistry with each other even if their jobs aren't the greatest, Marshall shows that love is universal no matter what you do or who you are.

This is one of the lesser known and appreciated screen gems of the 90's. It's a superior romantic-comedy-drama which stars screen legend Al Pacino and screen goddess Michelle Pfeiffer. The movie is so much more about the love story. It is a very perceptive movie about people who are lonely and people who are trapped into their own lives. The movie has an achingly melancholic mood. Pfeiffer was phenomenal and proved that she deserved the part. Her beauty was toned down to make her look as ordinary as possible. The character she played has so much depth and layer that is pretty uncommon for films generally regarded as romance films. Pacino of course was good, this is his and Pfeiffer's second team up after "Scarface" of course I love the fact that he played the role with such ease and charm which is a lot different from his more serious roles before. The supporting actors Nathan Lane and Kate Nelligan stole some scenes.There are some lovely moments,. I liked the scene in the flower market, where the two are standing together and the metal door slides up to display a dazzling backdrop of red and orange flowers. Also, the final scene with the toothbrushes and Claire de Lune is nicely done. Pfeiffer is particularly good here and Pacino backs her up all the way. Still there are so many hackneyed clichés. Perhaps its just that we have seen so many films, good ones in which people are more realistically portrayed that it's annoying to see so many old-timey stock types: the good hearted gay buddy, the good hearted but slutty waitress buddy, the good hearted Greek restaurant owner, the good hearted homely waitress buddy, the good-hearted Puerto-Rican busboy and the good-hearted black busboy. Then there are the good hearted clients. If they had gone for realistic characterizations of some of these people rather than going for heart-warming "types" this could have been a much better film. I blame Garry Marshall for this. Pacino and Pfeiffer did their best to bring some class to this film.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

He doesn't moan when he has sex...well, no. That's not exactly a prison thing. I mean, being in high school is sorta kinda like being in jail. You want to be free but you still live with mom and dad and...YOU DON'T WANT THEM TO KNOW.I figure that would go double if you grow up in a big city with small apartments and thin walls.You're not even going to doink too hard least they hear the bed.Nope, don't buy it. Even now that, almost pushing 40, I am so used to it, it has been so ingrained in me that even now when I am almost 40 I'll put my hand over her mouth if she starts making too much noise."Shut up or they'll hear." "Who?" "It really doesn't matter."My neighbors, my roommates, my siblings, my co-workers, the dog in the unit next door, it doesn't matter I would be so much happier if they are assumed I was a virgin.But then, I still live in a city and the walls are thing. i was still raised Irish-Catholic and working class. My parents never had money.My girlfriend, she comes from some money and she has no problem making noise. She was the product of an actual house with thick walls and no college roomies. The person that wrote that line is from money. Money enough to have grown up somewhere with actual walls and not paper separating units in a big city.Yeah....that's my review. It's a good enough movie, it is certainly an original love story, not something you see in MOST romantic comedies...The protagonists are BOTH poor. They BOTH work. Usually when I am dragged to see a movie like this, the guy is rich and can give the girl EVERYTHING she's ever wanted if they just fell in love and, oh, isn't that romantic?Nope...can't relate to that. I've never been rich and what passes for Romantic movies to me always seems like the "Republican and the Gold Digger" kinda movie. It is so romantic, he is so rich....Nope."Frankie and Johnny" is totally different. You get the sense that it is an actual love story, it's really about romance and not wealth and sex. You get the sense that the people really care about each other. This is a relationship based on emotion and not the fantasy of landing a rich man.You don't see many movies like this. It's refreshing....and Al Pacino, so, you know, you are kind of required to watch everything he's ever been in. I'm sure that's a law somewhere.

To call this movie a romantic-drama would be unjust, because it is one of its kind and doesn't fall into any particular genre. Don't take a peanut-sized-brain to watch it, as it is not one of your regular candy-floss rom-coms that are full of superficial characters, who lack the most important dimension (Depth).Instead, what you have in Frankie and Johnny are real people with real problems. Treat them as such.Johnny(Pacino) is a lonely man with a broken life behind him. He makes inconsequential love to inconsequential women -which is his "band-aid on loneliness". But deep within him is the desire to make his life more meaningful by finding and settling down with someone he can connect to; not just make love to.When he meets a "kindred spirit" in Frankie(Pfeiffer), he is attracted to her. Gradually, he notices her all-too-obvious desolation and believes that they could each be an antidote to the other's wounds. But failed traumatic relationships in the past have left Frankie so bitter that even when someone as sweet as Johnny walks into her life she is wary of taking him in (although she is herself beginning to like and love him); wary of being hurt again -physically and mentally.She takes time to realize how earnest and committed he is to this relationship. While Johnny on the other hand wants to hasten the process because: In his own words "I'm trying to improve my life, Frankie. And I'm running outta time. And I'm so scared...I'm scared that you're going to retreat back".How their relationship grows and starts to heal them is a treat to watch.And so is the tuneful denouement, where morning begins to break in, bringing with it a new day and a new beginning. POETIC!!!.If I get down to talking about all the things that I like about FnJ, I guess, it will never end. But I must mention the beautiful line with which Johnny chokes me up every time, "I can't make the bad go away. You're right, I can't. But...when the bad comes again...I will be next to you" Now, that's love.Al is -as always- PERFECT. His Best Actor tag is so well-deserved. Michelle surprises. Together they instill their challenging characters with charm and warmth. If someone tells me they were miscast as cook/waitress, lemme tell you, I will not believe it. Not in the least.This is MY Godfather. MY Casablanca. MY Citizen Kane.Infinite stars out of 10