Pretty Woman (1990) - DVD Review

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts co-star in this wonderful romantic comedy. When Edward Lewis, a rich industrialist played by Richard Gere, searches to locate his Beverly Hills hotel, he encounters Vivian Ward, a Hollywood prostitute played by Julia Roberts. Vivian is suddenly swooped up into an extremely rich fantasy world, when she is hired by Edward Lewis as a date for an entire week.

Julia Roberts is perfect in her role as a prostitute, taken into a world where anything you could desire is just a call away. She usually has only enough clients to just get her rent paid while living with her drug-addicted roommate. Since Vivian did not graduate from high school, she has chosen prostitution as the only way of getting a higher paying job, rather than working in fast food restaurants.

But now with Edward Lewis in her life, Vivian is living in a hotel suite that has a bathroom as big as her entire apartment and many people to wait on her hand and foot. As Edward Lewis's date, she has to dress the part and encounters the snobbish, Hollywood culture of Rodeo Drive. After being asked to leave an exclusive boutique, Vivian is totally lost and does not know how to learn to dress and eat at a high class restaurant. She desperately asks the help of the hotel manager at the Beverly Hills Hotel where she and Lewis are staying. The manager decides to come to her aid in order to please Lewis, one of his best customers. Later, the hotel boutique manager works with Vivian changing everything about her appearance from hair to shoes, giving her a stunning and elegant look.

Richard Gere is very convincing as Edward Lewis, showing a cool calculating manner that is totally involved in winning his business deals. He spends day and night on the phone, planning his next move and meeting with his lawyer, not even taking a day off. But that changes when Vivian enters the picture.

Both Edward Lewis and Vivian Ward come from extreme ends of society and could not be more different. However, they do share one thing in common; they both use their clients in a cold, unemotional manner. But later on, what begins as a business contract quickly evolves into much, much more.

This a delightful, romance that will keep you guessing from moment to moment what is happen next with this odd couple of fascinating people.

"Pretty Woman" is rated R. Parents need to know that this film contains adult themes, strong sexual references, and sexual imagery.

Tom Straub is a successful author and webmaster of the DVD Reviews website featuring online reviews of all your favorites.