May 28th
Pretty Woman**
US 1990. Touchstone. 119m.

A multi-billionaire falls for a novice Los Angeles hooker with a heart.
Long and talky but engaging smash hit romantic comedy with vague allusions to Frank Capra and Pygmalion. The latter element has slightly dated, and some of the seedier elements are glossed over, but the underused supporting cast is good, the drama element is surprisingly interesting, and the central teaming helped to secure the megastardom of the emerging Julia Roberts. With hindsight, an interesting historical item too, a sign of the materialistic 1980s making way for the friendlier 1990s.

Written by: J.F. Lawton.
Producers: Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther.
Director: Garry Marshall.
Starring: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo, Jason Alexander, Hector Elizondo, Alex Hyde-White, Amy Yasbeck.
Photography: Charles Minsky.
Music: James Newton Howard.