Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8390 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-02
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) directs the screen adaptation of Terence McNally's play Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune, the story of a short-order cook (Al Pacino) who drives a waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) crazy with his adamant courtship and mixed messages. The film is okay and not much more than that, the major stumbling block being Marshall's failure to scrub away enough star veneer on Pacino and Pfeiffer to accept them as minimum-wage drones with nowhere to go but toward each other. Fortunately, Marshall's feel for the texture offered by supporting players--Hector Elizondo as a café owner, Nathan Lane as Pfeiffer's inevitably gay neighbour-buddy, Kate Nelligan as another lonely waitress--keeps things interesting enough. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

DVD Description
DVD Features:

Theatrical Trailer
Language: English (Dolby 5.1), French German Italian and Spanish (Dolby Surround Sound)
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Anamorphic 1.78:1

Synopsis
In this adaptation of Terrence McNally's play, Johnny (Al Pacino), an ex-con turned short order cook, woos Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer), a reluctant plain jane waitress. Set in a dingy Manhattan diner, the story revolves around Johnny's eager, won't-stop-at-anything attempt to draw the embittered, recalcitrant Frankie out of her shell. As the two loners inch closer to love, we learn about their past: how Johnny landed in prison and what soured Frankie on men and relationships.

Customer Reviews

A very good movie...
Most of teh criticism of this film is centered around the fact that Pfieffer and Pacino look too good for the characters they are suipposed to be portraying. A fair cop...it is true but that will annoy you for about 3 seconds before appreciation of the script and acting kicks in. I would have to say in hindisght that this film suffered from teh whole "only beautiful people get cast" debate that went on in Hollywood a few years ago. This should have been an ideal opportunity to disprove it given that the two leads were supposed to be somewhat "plain." BUT WHO CARES? Forget the criticism and form your own opinion and at ... it is a snip.

Brilliant
I have owned this on VHS before I bought it on DVD and I just love it.

The story is very subtle and shows that people who make mistakes in life can move on if they let themselves. Michelle's character doesn't want to let herself be vulnerable but does realise, eventually, if she does want to move on then she will have to expose the real her to someone.

Al Pacino is brilliant as the ex-con with the heart - he can't even go off the rails properly when he gets out as he has too much of a conscience to do that.

The cast around them is also fab - mostly not big name actors but brilliantly cast as they are so believable you could expect to walk into a diner in NY and see them.

And the little touches around the main action (like the old dear at the till shoving some change on the floor to get the customer to bend down) are great and lift what could be a depressing story - albeit the guy does get the girl in the end.

Its a great story and one you can watch again and again.

Pacino and Pfeiffer hit it really big
After their "romance" in 'Scarface' they (Pacino and Pfeiffer) decide to have a real romance, and it is a pretty good one. Not that the film is great but in this kind of films all I hope for is a little chemistry, some nice characters and a few laughs. This film has it all.

The chemistry between Al Pacino (Johnny) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Frankie) works because in the movie they have to fight for that chemistry. Al Pacino is a great actor but I think Michelle Pfeiffer was better here. Although I loved a couple of particular scenes with Pacino (his Greek-dance-scene is great) I think the character of Michelle Pfeiffer has more depth and she does exactly the right thing for that character. And of course she is a beautiful woman. You must love her.

The nice characters, besides Frankie and Johnny, are the gay neighbour (Nathan Lane), the boss of the restaurant where almost the whole cast is working (Hector Elizondo) and Nedda and Cora (Jane Morris and Kate Nelligan), two of the waitresses.

The story is simple. Johnny is just released from prison and he starts working in the restaurant where Frankie happens to be a waitress. He falls in love and although she has trouble to admit it she is doing the same thing. Of course there are some (a lot of) complications on the way but you know how it is going to end. A nice feel-good movie.