FRANKIE AND JOHNNY
US, 1991, 117 minutes, Colour.
Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hector Elizondo, Kate Nelligan, Nathan Lane.
Directed by Garry Marshall.
Frankie and Johnny can be described as a downtown fairy tale. It was directed by Garry Marshall whose previous film, Pretty Woman, was considered something of a very popular fairy tale. (Marshall has also directed Young Doctors in Love, The Flamingo Kid, Nothing in Common, Overboard and Beaches.) The film is an exploration of a tender relationship. It is based on the play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terence McNally?, author of The Ritz.
The film starts quite breezily with some very funny one-liners and incidental comedy. Halfway through, the comedy lapses and we stay more intensely with the relationships. Frankie is a low-self-image waitress in a Manhattan diner. Johnny is out of prison and now a short-order cook. The expected romance has its ups and downs and is brought to life persuasively by Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. There is also quite a range of eccentric characters in the foreground as well, led by Hector Elizondo as Nick, the owner of the diner, Jane Morris as Nedda, the grouchy waitress, and Kate Nelligan doing a humorous impersonation of a very sexy waitress.
The success of the film will probably depend on one's mood. It is an upbeat variation on the song.
1.An appealing fairy tale? From downtown?
2.The stars and their style? The work of Garry Marshall?
3.The New York settings, Lower Manhattan, the downtown atmosphere, the diner, the streets, apartments? The contrast with the opening Pennsylvania sequences? The prison? The musical score and the theme song?
4.The title, the song and audiences knowing the lyrics? Frankie having the advantage - that Johnny dies at the end of the song? The adaptation of the two-hander play for the screen?
5.Frankie, the bus ride, reunited with her family, the baptismal ceremony? Talking with her sister and mother? Her feeling down, low image of herself?
6.Johnny, his leaving the prison, going to New York to start a new life?
7.The Apollo: the set, the style of the diner, the staff, the kitchen, the customers? Nick and his genial running of the diner, his family and relationships? Helen and her being sick, going to hospital, dying? The boy continually on the phone? The cooks and their banter? Cora and her sexy style? Nedda and her continual grouchiness and comedy? The customers?
8.Frankie back in New York, going to work, life in her apartment, her friendship with Tim and his boyfriend? Her looking out at the back - and the rear window view of the neighbours? The woman battered by her husband? Frankie's style, living alone, the past hurt and relationships? Enjoying her work, relating well with the waitresses? Seeing Johnny at work, the initial clashes, his approaches and her spurning them? Helen's funeral, the church, Johnny and his weeping? Proposal, going out? Her reaction to Johnny being with Cora? The staff party, getting her dress ready, the man going to Hollywood to work? Johnny's arrival, Tim helping with the dress? The party, going home, Johnny staying over, the affair? Her reaction next day? Tension with Johnny, her meeting the battered woman in the supermarket? The talk with Johnny, the desperate encounter, the intensity of their interaction? The finale and their sorting things out, his staying? Her future?
9.Johnny and the forgery, getting out of jail, place to stay, getting a job, Nick hiring him, getting on well with the cooks? Work and the atmosphere, the customers? His genial style? Going to Helen's funeral and weeping? The night with Cora and his impotence? The party, going out with Frankie, coming to her apartment? Together, enjoying the evening? The discussions about age - and the gradual revelation of the truth? The night together, his not understanding Frankie's reaction? His driving by to see his wife and child and not going in? The finale, at her apartment, the depth of their conversation, arguments? His staying and her accepting him?
10.Cora, the wisecracks, relationships, the sexy type? Her date with Johnny, his impotence, her handling the situation? The bonds with Frankie and Nedda?
11.Nedda, her appearance, comic style? Awkwardness at the funeral? Her wisecracks? The party, her dancing with Johnny? Her cheering up?
12.Tim, the friendly neighbour, the gay New York scene, his friend? Tim helping Frankie, advice?
13.The cooks, their friendliness? The boy on the phone, emergencies and his still talking? The black author, his screenplay, being accepted by Hollywood, the farewell party? Nick presiding over the diner?
14.The range of customers, the casuals, the cantankerous, the friendly? The old pensioners and the waitresses being friendly? The man and his sexual advances and Cora and Frankie's practical joke? Life in the diner?
15.The atmosphere of New York City, the contrast with families in Pennsylvania? Life downtown, edgy relationships, low self-image, groping for some kind of commitment and love?
