Pretty Woman

Something special. Read full review

The sweetest and most openhearted love fable since "The Princess Bride." Read full review

The intelligence and wit of this glass-slipper heart-of-gold fantasy are shocking. Read full review

A modern-day treatment of Pygmalion and Cinderella rolled into one, it is graced by first-class performances from two easy-on-the-eye stars and a sharp, funny script. Read full review

Roberts and Richard Gere costar in this bubbly scamper, which goes to the head like champagne -- the cheap, sweet kind that leaves you with a throbbing head. And yet this monstrously derivative romance is great giddy fun. Read full review

No one is expected to believe Pretty Woman . We're just supposed to enjoy it... Pretty Woman wants only to engage us for two hours, and it does. [16 Apr 1990, p.26]

Roberts handles the transition from coarse and gawky to glamorous with aplomb. Read full review

But it's Roberts's memorably comic performance that is the most distinguishing aspect of the movie. As the gawky professional companion, she's ticklishly appealing. Read full review

For the first time in years (even counting his excellent work in “Internal Affairs”), Richard Gere's acting gears aren't too obviously apparent; Julia Roberts, though the breadth of her emotional range remains in question, is beautiful and can act - a not-bad blueprint for continued employment. [23 Mar 1990, Life, p.4D]

The movie displays an almost preternatural disregard for women's feelings — call it Pygmalion, with a heavy accent on the first syllable — but the comedy is so slickly delivered that audiences may be content with chuckling over its polished surface charms. Read full review

The message is plain: Men, especially rich men, have all the power. So be sure to do what they tell you, and maybe they'll treat you nicely… It's not one I like to hear. [27 Apr 1990, Arts, p.10]

The silly script lurches from one jarring, implausible moment to another, and Marshall directs like he was wearing earplugs and boxing gloves on the set. Read full review

Nothing works, except perhaps the sight of Julia Roberts' lean, well-tempered midsection and her roughly eight yards of legs that, in this frail comedy, are worked until they're almost a story point of their own. [23 Mar 1990, Calendar, p.F-14]

Proves that the Disney people can sell just about anything--including a misogynistic celebration of big business and prostitution. Read full review

It's one of those self-consciously cute pictures, about as hard to take as a person who stands in front of a mirror and preens all day. [23 Mar 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

It sounds like standard Cinderella stuff (and the script comes complete with plenty of allusions to princesses in towers), but it's played here with an emphasis on possessions and possessing that borders on the obscene… It's a pretty ugly movie. [23 Mar 1990, Friday, p.C]

Starts out as a neo-Pygmalion comedy, but the film is slow, earnest, and rhythmless. Read full review

A ticket to Pretty Woman buys you mechanical titillation and predictable twists... Old-fashioned, assembly-line moviemaking without the old panache. [2 Apr 1990, p.70]