Bilgi :Johnny has just been released from prison, and gets a job in a cafe beside waitress Frankie. Frankie is a bit of a loner, but Johnny is determined their romance will blossom.Johnny is a lonely middle-aged man who gets a job in a restaurant owned by a greek family. There, he meets Frankie, a woman who doesnt seem very happy with her life, and he falls in love with her. The problem is that Frankie feels really lost in her monotony, so he cant convince her about his feelings...
Review :
As is almost inevitably true of any motion picture developed from a stage production, Frankie and Johnny is a talky affair. A lot more attention is paid to dialogue than action of any sort, and character interplay almost always takes precedence over plot development. These characteristics prove to be, at one time or another, both the strengths and weaknesses of the film.
Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a disappointed romantic. By day, she works as a waitress in a diner; by night she sits alone in her apartment, staring out the window at her neighboring apartment building. For her, getting a VCR is more important -- and safe -- than having a relationship. She would rather observe life than experience it, thus avoiding any possibility of being hurt.
Johnny (Al Pacino) is a zestful short-order cook just out of prison. From the moment he starts work with Frankie, he is smitten with her -- not so much by her looks, but by what he senses to be "a kindred spirit." Johnny too has been scarred by life and love, but he's more willing than Frankie to try again... and it takes some effort before he finally manages to get her to accept one of his invitations to go out.
Frankie and Johnny contains some wonderful moments, but these are interspersed with other scenes that are either melodramatic or not terribly interesting. It's during the casual, unhurried development the two principals' relationship that the film is at its strongest. Once Frankie and Johnny are together, however, it's generally downhill. The various complications that fracture their love affair aren't particularly compelling, and too much of the last hour seems dragged-out and pointless. Not so with the closing scenes in Frankie's apartment, but there's a lot of inferior material right before them.
Frankie and Johnny has a lot to say about life and love, and the risks involved in both. They are universal themes, and their presentation here doesn't offer a new or unique perspective. Issues of this sort are naturally better-suited to a play, but enough intelligence remains in the script to make this version a better-than-average love story. It's a rarity for a motion picture romance not to be couched in comedy but, despite a few humorous moments sprinkled throughout, this film is very much a drama.
Undoubtedly, part of the reason that Frankie and Johnny works -- when it works -- is the cast. Al Pacino plays Johnny with dignity and restraint, proving (if there was ever any doubt) that he can do roles that don't require a lot of bluster. Michelle Pfeiffer is surprisingly convincing as the frumpy Frankie, and it's a tribute to her ability that she can make us forget the glamor of such roles as The Fabulous Baker Boys. The supporting performers, including Kate Nelligan as Frankie's friend Cora and Hector Elizondo as Nick, are worth a mention.
Only one scene in Frankie and Johnny really made me cringe: the one at the bowling alley. Even the weath of acting talent present can't save this part of the movie. The script wallows in artificial melodrama, and very little about what anyone says or does seems right for their character or the situation. It's almost as if another author took over for this sequence.
Somewhere in the months and years following its theatrical release, Frankie and Johnny has gained an unwarranted reputation as a bad movie. Perhaps that's because the mainstream movie-goer isn't used to slow-moving pictures that choose to focus on people rather than situations. (Oddly it's when this film gets away from that approach that it falls into trouble.) Almost all the changes in Frankie and Johnny happen deep within the hearts of the protagonists, and there's no reasonable way for that sort of development to happen quickly. Patience is needed for Frankie and Johnny -- as well as a willingness to forgive certain excesses. |
