Pretty Woman

Even though this film was made in 1990, it came on the cusp of the eighties, a decade I spent on another planet it would seem - I have successfully managed to avoid several atrocities of those heady years, Top Gun & Dirty Dancing being notable examples...this film fell into the category of those which accompany the formative years of my peers like a special pet, one that I neglected. Years later, my purity intact, and as I have grown avoiding the Rom-Com genre as best I can, it becomes increasingly difficult not to hate the very thought of being ensnared by the glittering maw of this Hollywood rags-to-riches classic.

I was surprised...sometimes...in it's favour, Pretty Woman doesn't shy away from some of the difficulties faced by prostitutes, although it does this in a slightly hands off manner. It's also worthy as a tale of human decency, suggesting in days where "obscene" amounts of money bring wealth to the few and poverty to the many, that such Dickensian "miracles" aren't quite dead. It's best feature, however, is the constant vindication of the underdog.

I laughed once. This is the cheesiest film I have ever seen - surely by this enlightened period in cinematic history, horse riding at dusk had to have been consigned to the waste-bin? This is the ultimate fantasy of the last century, where powerful men commanding vast wealth and power sweep vulnerable but strong women off their feet and take them to a magical palace of comfort and love. Richard Gere is so suavely bland that I want to do something to mess up his hair, or thrust a custard pie in that chiseled face. I never ever want to see this film again.