Such a frustrating disappointment

Just perfect...

Beautiful, moving film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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.

Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an isolated waitress working at a greasy Manhattan diner with a cast of wacky characters. She's recovering from a bad marriage. Her best friend is gay neighbor Tim (Nathan Lane). Johnny (Al Pacino) recently got out of jail. Diner owner Nick (Héctor Elizondo) gives the ex-con a chance as the fry cook.There is a needed change when a romantic role written for Kathy Bates goes to Michelle Pfeiffer. The switch can be done smartly. Pfeiffer looks like a Hollywood starlet no matter how plain the makeup girls try to make her. The simple fix is every straight male character has to make a pass at her. It would be more believable and it would allow Frankie to reject every one of them. She would be alone by choice which fits her character perfectly. It's really weird when Pfeiffer asks why Pacino wants to go out with her. Get a mirror.If one ignores that problem, this is a pretty good romance with two of the best actors around. They deliver compelling performances. Pacino has a fun bit of prison sex. Pfeiffer's loneliness is palpable but her beauty does need acknowledgment by the movie.

I'm surprised by the number of reviewers stating that this movie is on their Top 10 list; I thought it was an adequate story though it tried really hard to over play the will she/won't she angst of Michelle Pfeiffer's character. For Pacino, this was not in the Michael Corleone league, but his performance was generally up for the task. For a while there I thought Nick's (Hector Elizondo) daughter Pookie was going to have a larger role to play but I can't even find her name in the credits. Too bad, I thought there was something going on there.Usually in older films (and this one's not that old) I find myself making a mental note of things like the cost of merchandise relative to today's prices, so it was a bit of reverse shock to see Frankie (Pfeiffer) anxiously eyeing a VCR machine at the sale price of $199. If you can even find one today, it would be outdone by a DVD player for about thirty bucks. Just goes to show you how the advance of technology has made life better over time.My main disappointment with the film is that they never played the song 'Frankie and Johnny'. Granted, it might have been a downer since after all, Frankie pulled out that forty-four and plugged Johnny with it. But it doesn't sound all that bad when Sam Cooke tells the story.

Frankie and Johnny (1991) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Overly dramatic love story about a sad cook (Al Pacino) and a sad waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) trying to get together. I could probably go on for paragraphs talking about all the negative things this film has to offers. There's no doubt this is a flawed film but at the same time these flaws just add to some joy due to the great performances by the two leads. This is certainly no where near Pacino's best performance but I might call it his most underrated and most fun. After two decades of hard, dramatic roles it just seems like Pacino is having the time of his life doing "fun" stuff compared to various roles that I've been rewatching this month. The film is sweet and touching, even though the director goes overboard with some of the stuff, and the laughs are great as well. Not a great film by any means but one of my favorites.