by Frank Calvill
Garry Marshall continues on his quest to turn every well-known holiday in the country into rom-com fodder with this week’s release of Mother’s Day starring Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts.
The plot, concerning the way various individuals celebrate the holiday, is as cliche-ridden as its two predecessors, 2010’s Valentine’s Day and 2011’s New Year’s Eve. The director’s latest is a definite far cry from Marshall’s glory days as a director, leading many to forget that he can actually make films dealing with honest emotion, which also manage to be entertaining.
Nowhere was this more than evident than with Marshall’s touching, yet somewhat unheralded 1991 effort, Frankie and Johnny.
Terrence McNally adapted his own successful stage play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to tell the story of a waitress named Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) who works in a New York diner filled with colorful characters, such as her boss Nick (Hector Elizondo) and fellow waitress Cora (Kate Nelligan). When an ex-convict named Johnny (Al Pacino) gets a job as a cook, he finds himself instantly drawn to Frankie. However, the closed-off emotional wall that Frankie has surrounded herself with makes it virtually impossible for any man to pass through. Smitten and undeterred, Johnny is hell-bent on winning the heart of this lonely, yet enticing waitress no matter what it takes.
Any film coming from the stage has its baggage, especially when the script was written by the playwright himself. Oftentimes, the final result can feel like nothing more than a filmed version of the original play. Thankfully, Frankie and Johnny never falls into such a trap thanks to a variety of scenes taking place in the restaurant, bowling alley, the streets of New York and in Frankie’s own apartment, where moments of equal human drama and hilarity play out. Even the scenes featuring long wraps of dialogue feel completely free of their stage origins. Most of this is due to Marshall’s fine hand at pacing and making sure the story feels alive from start to finish. This is true until the film’s closing moments, which sees each of the supporting characters in their bedrooms as the lovely “Clair de Lune” plays in the background, serving as a curtain call of sorts.
Hot on the heels of Pretty Woman, Frankie and Johnny was a decidedly unusual choice for Marshall following his previous film’s runaway success. But the choice turned out to be wise one, giving the director his most sensitive and mature offering to date. With his background in comedy, Frankie and Johnny’s themes of domestic abuse and loneliness seemed a bit out of Marshall’s wheelhouse. Looking at the film however, it’s easy to note how in tune director’s treatment of such subjects is. Marshall approaches Frankie and Johnny with a gentle and caring touch, while showcasing a number of quirky side characters and potent laughs, working all to great effect.
When news emerged of Pfeiffer’s securing the part of Frankie, many in the industry were quick to complain about the casting of a younger actress with loads of sex appeal as a character which was described as dowdy and unattractive. While there was some truth to the move, the casting of Pfeiffer helped to actually shatter the still-present stereotype of pretty people somehow being immune to the kind of human grief which befall everyone on the planet. If there’s one thing Frankie and Johnny nails in terms of ideology, it’s that damaged human beings come in every kind of image there is.
While the addition of Pfeiffer and Pacino could be seen as stunt casting by some, given how their first effort together, Scarface, had already begun its life as a cult film, the two are perfect in their respective roles. He is winsome and endearing, while she is funny and soulful. In the end, the pair do some high-quality work, reaching as far deep into their characters as they can for some incredibly moving performances. Oftentimes, movie stars have such a persona about them, that it takes a special kind of film to remind the public, that some are first and foremost, actors.
The complaints of Pfeiffer being too pretty for her role were still there upon the film’s release, with critics calling out Hollywood for favoring looks over talent. Most skeptics were won over however by the actress’s performance, which netted her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. Sadly it was one of the only forms of acclaim the film enjoyed since audiences failed to make the film a hit and, other than highlighting Pfeiffer’s work, many critics were rather dismissive.
There’s no doubt that Frankie and Johnny will forever be seen as an odd duck in Marshall’s filmography. The film’s humor is slight, and the characters are real, which is a far cry from the decidedly in-your-face slapstick and cardboard cutouts disguised as people Marshall has favored as of late. The films may have tarnished the director’s reputation in many people’s eyes, but Frankie and Johnny stands strong as a reminder of what a sensitive and true filmmaker he can be.
