Every Cliché and then some--a film about film clichés

Rating: 5/10 (30 May 2015)

I saw this last evening in Oakland's Paramount. I see maybe five movies in the course of a year. It's not my favorite artistic medium. And this film is one of the reasons why--more hype than substance.
The movie soon took on an appearance of director Garry Marshall attempting to spoof past romance movies by creating sly allusions to those films in this movie. For a bit--the viewer would think that was a 5 foot 10 Audrey Hepburn walking down Rodeo Drive. The film clips of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in "Affair to Remember". Julia as Vivian screaming out loud at the polo match--Audrey Hepburn--"Move your bloomin arse..." at the Ascot. And even in the end--Richard Gere walking up the fire escape with an umbrella--"Mary Poppins"--another movie about transformation--transformation from self-centered parents to parents interested in their growing children.
The movie is not really about falling in love with a prostitute. It is about transformation of a prostitute into a lady; transformation from perceiving a woman as a prostitute to seeing the woman as a wife.
Transformation is a perdurable theme from Hollywood. "A Star is Born." "My Fair Lady"--itself a literal takeoff on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion". "Breakfast at Tiffany's". "An Affair to Remember." The theme is a Hollywood staple and has been done with excellence by each of those cited movies. But the theme is not just a film trope, it is a trope of reality for each of these stars. The individual--Julia Roberts--transformed into mega-actress (movie star). Frances Ethel Gumm transformed into Judy Garland; Archy Leach transformed into Cary Grant; Marion Mitchell Morrison transformed into John Wayne; Benjamin Kubelsky to Jack Benny--and so on. (And for so many Hollywood types, disaster is prevented with a stroke of good judgment and discernment. Not just discernment for good movie roles but good judgment to stay away from self-destructive behavior. In the original film concept--Vivian is a cocaine user; and we all know what that is potential for.
It seemed that every cliché was used in this movie--and then some. Like I say--I see maybe five movies a year; I'm glad I passed this one by in 1990. I just saw (1995) "French Kiss" with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline--now that was a romantic comedy.