Themes: Single Life, Workplace Romance, Starting Over
Main Cast: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hector Elizondo, Nathan Lane, Kate Nelligan
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Terrence McNally's stage play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune was a two-character piece, which starred Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham on Broadway. Garry Marshall's film version of the McNally play streamlines the title to Frankie and Johnny, expands the dramatis personae to include at least a dozen fascinating characters, and "glamorizes" the decidedly unglamorous Frankie and Johnny in the forms of Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino (their first co-starring stint since Scarface). Purists carped at the changes, but overall the film is likeable enough to transcend these carps. While serving an 18-month sentence on a forgery charge, Johnny (Al Pacino) discovers the joys of cooking and classical literature. Upon his release, he is hired by gruff but good-hearted New York diner owner Nick (played by Garry Marshall "regular" Hector Elizondo). Also working for Nick is a waitress named Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer). When Johnny expresses interest in Frankie, she keeps him at arm's length, her mistrust of men stemming from an unmentioned but obviously traumatic experience in her past. Eventually, however, Frankie and Johnny do get together, their curious relationship setting the stage for a dramatic denouement wherein both lovers bare their souls. The bulk of the original McNally play is concentrated in the film's final 20 minutes; the rest of the picture is a kaleidoscope of comic and poignant vignettes and quick-sketch character studies. Of the newly minted characters, the standout is Nathan Lane in the traditional "gay best friend/severest critic" role: he plays the character so effectively that one forgets he's essentially a cliché. As for the stars, Al Pacino is ideally cast as Johnny, but Michelle Pfeiffer, superb though she is, seems a bit ill at ease as the emotionally tattered Frankie; she totally wins the audience's hearts, however, in the film's memorable bowling-alley sequence. Smoothing over the rough spots in Frankie and Johnny is the evocative musical score by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
An amiable exploration of love and trust, Frankie and Johnny proved that Al Pacino could make it through a role without bluster and that Michelle Pfeiffer could be frumpy. Adapted from Terrence McNally's play by the playwright himself, the film exchanged the original's grittier tone for a more cuddly, sitcom-friendly approach. The result is a story that takes place in the kind of charmingly eccentric New York that was home to When Harry Met Sally, where employers are endearingly cheap rather than nail-bitingly stingy and there is always a gay neighbor to provide witty advice. Thanks to this sort of treatment by McNally and director Garry Marshall (of Pretty Woman fame), you know everything will end up well, as major characters work out their issues and secondary players stand by to provide wacky, well-meaning moral support. Frankie and Johnny is a sweet, agreeable film, and while it has undoubtedly alienated more than a few viewers with its softhearted, talky approach, it remains a safe bet for a couple hours worth of quality entertainment. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Jane Morris - Nedda; Greg Lewis - Tino; Al Fann - Luther; Ele Keats - Artemis; Fernando Lopez - Jorge; Glenn Plummer - Peter; Tim Hopper - Lester; Harvey Miller - Mr. Rosen; Sean O'Bryan - Bobby; Hope Alexander-Willis - Night Waitress; Paul Allison - Johnny's Son; Richard Allison - Johnny's Son; Bill Applebaum - Baby's Godfather; Mychael Bates - Flower Driver; Ashley Baynes - Johnny's Daughter; Vallery Baynes - Johnny's Daughter; Gordon Belson - Marlon the Disc Jockey; Flora Berniker - Flora; Marvin Braveman - Officer Joe; Eugenia Bravos - Grandma; Gena Bravos - Greek Dancer; Blanche Bronte - Flower Vendor; Robert Brunner - Accident Driver; Frank Buxton - Minister; Karin Calabro - Dental Technician; K Callan - Frankie's Mother; Frank Campanella - Retired Customer; Karen Case Cook - Megaphone Lady; Lucinda Crosby - Abused Neighbor; Krista H. Davis - Bus Rider; Lou Evans - Eating Man; Bettiann Fishman - Aunt Bette; Hyman Fishman - Cora's customer; Diane Frazen - Whispering Customer Marge; Nick Gambella - Night Busboy; Ira Glick - Mutzie Calish; John Goldman - Parking Lot Owner; Ronny Hallin - Biker Customer; Calvin Jung - Officer Lee; Harvey Keenan - Salesman Customer; Allan Kent - Racetrack Customer; Diana Kent - Nick's Wife; Elizabeth Kerr - Senior Citizen Customer; Shirley Kirks - Greek Dancer; Joli Lallo - Jorge's Girlfriend; Phil Leeds - Mr. DeLeon; Barbara London - Night Waitress; Bud Markowitz - Juggler Customer; Barbara Marshall - Helen's Nurse; Lori Marshall - Party Guest; Scott A. Marshall - Sidewalk Preacher; Keith Martell - Party Child; Kelly McCray - Bus Rider; Goldie McLaughlin - Waitress Helen; Shawn McLean - Penny Pitcher; Barbara Mealy - Night Waitress; Laurie Metcalf; Jeff Michalski - Seizure Customer; Barbara Nabozny - Eating Woman; Marty Nadler - Rude Customer; Julie Paris - Pregnant Customer; DeDee Pfeiffer - Frankie's Cousin; Pricilla Phillips - Snooty Customer; Laurie Quinn - Pretty Girl Bowler; Marc Raducci - Cousin's Husband; Tracy Reiner - Attorney at Party; Steve Restivo - Night Cook; Blair Richwood - Bus Rider; Joy Rosenthal - Snooty Customer; Shane Ross - Sexy Neighbor; Al Sapienza - Peter's Roommate; Mark Scarola - Garment Worker; Lori Sigrist - Bowling Twin; Terri Sigrist - Bowling Twin; Lynn Stalmaster; Lorna Thayer - Flower Vendor; Paul Tinder - New Husband; Sophie Von Haselberg - Party Children; Zachary Weintraub - Handsome Bowler; Shannon Wilcox - Christine the Hooker; Dey Young - Johnny's Ex-Wife; Robert Ball - Haircombing Neighbor; Richard Gillis - Sexy Neighbor
Credit
Carol Wood - Art Director, Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, Rosanna Norton - Costume Designer, Garry Marshall - Director, Jacqueline Cambas - Editor, Battle Davis - Editor, Nick Abdo - Executive Producer, Charles B. Mulvehill - Executive Producer, Alex Rose - Executive Producer, Marvin Hamlisch - Composer (Music Score), Keith A. Wester - Musical Direction/Supervision, G. Marq Roswell - Musical Direction/Supervision, Lou Barlia - Camera Operator, Albert Brenner - Production Designer, Dante Spinotti - Cinematographer, Garry Marshall - Producer, Kathleen Dolan - Set Designer, Harold L. Fuhrman - Set Designer, Kathe Klopp - Set Designer, Terrence McNally - Screenwriter, Terrence McNally - Play Author
The screenplay for Frankie and Johnny was adapted by Terrence McNally from his own off-Broadway play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (1987), which featured Kenneth Welsh and Kathy Bates. The most notable alteration in the film was the addition of several supporting characters and various locations; in the original play, only the two eponymous characters appeared onstage, and the entire drama took place in one apartment.[2]
The title is a reference to the traditional American popular song 'Frankie and Johnny', first published in 1904, which tells the story of a woman who finds her man making love to another woman and shoots him dead.[3]
While serving an 18-month prison sentence on a forgery charge, Johnny (Al Pacino) discovers the joys of cooking and classical literature. Upon his release, he is hired as a short-order cook by a gruff New York diner owner, Nick (Hector Elizondo). Also working at the diner is a reclusive, lonely waitress named Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her extrovert friend, Cora (Kate Nelligan). Johnny and Cora have an awkward one-night stand, before Johnny begins to express interest in Frankie, who tries to keep him at arm's length but eventually relents and agrees to date him. Johnny comes to Frankie's apartment, where she lives with her gay best friend Tim (Nathan Lane). Things reach boiling point at a bowling alley, where Frankie begs Johnny to leave her alone and stop telling her he loves her. She eventually reveals that her mistrust of men stems from traumatic experiences in her past. Johnny tries to get her to let him in.
Kathy Bates, the actress who originated the role of Frankie in the 1987 Off-Broadway play, campaigned for the film role but was passed over in favour of Michelle Pfeiffer.[4] She later said of the eventual casting: "I thought it was wonderful to see a love story about people over forty, ordinary people who were trying to connect... I don`t think we will see it with this movie."[5]
Frankie and Johnny currently holds a score of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating generally positive reviews.[6]
Peter Travers in Rolling Stone wrote: "there hasn't been a sharper, sassier, more touching romantic comedy this year... there's no denying Marshall's expert timing. This is the director's best work yet... In its celebration of cautious optimism, Frankie and Johnny becomes the perfect love story for these troubled times."[7]Janet Maslin in the New York Times wrote: "in the skillfully manipulative hands of Garry Marshall, who has directed from a screenplay by Mr. McNally that amounts to a complete revision, Frankie and Johnny has been reshaped into foolproof schmaltz. "Foolproof" is the operative word... But somehow Mr. Marshall, Mr. McNally and their superb leading actors are able to retain the intimacy of their material. They also retain the story's fundamental wariness about romance, even when everything about Ms. Pfeiffer and Mr. Pacino has the audience wondering why they don't simply fall into each other's arms."[8] Rita Kempley in the Washington Post wrote: "In its odyssey from stage to screen, Frankie & Johnny has undergone a sunny metamorphosis from ugly ducklings' romance to candy-coated, blue-collar valentine."[9]Time Out summed it up thus: "Pacino wears a vest and bandanna and moons through the part. Pfeiffer plays dowdy. Marshall directs as if Marty had never happened."[10]
Inevitably, much attention was paid to the controversial casting choices of Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, two actors perceived as "beautiful movie stars"[11] with Hollywood glamour, cast to play "lonely little people struggling to find love,"[11] originated by supposed "ordinary" actors Kenneth Welsh and Kathy Bates. Stephen Farber in Movieline wrote: "Michelle Pfeiffer gives a very adept and winning performance in Frankie & Johnny, but she's simply wrong for the part of a plain, world-weary waitress. While Pfeiffer has protested to interviewers that physical beauty cannot guarantee happiness, the fact remains that anyone as gorgeous as she is has a lot more options than someone who looks like Kathy Bates (who originated the role on stage). The star casting robs the material of some of its poignancy."[12] The Washington Post wrote that "casting Michelle Pfeiffer in a role written for Kathy Bates is going to have a definite effect on the story's dramatic weight. That's not to say that Pfeiffer isn't pfantastic or that this isn't the pfeel-good movie of the season. It's just ... well, imagine Kevin Costner as Marty."[9]Variety asserted that no one would "believe that Pfeiffer hasn't had a date since Ronald Reagan was president, and no matter how hard she tries to look plain, there is no disguising that she just gets more beautiful all the time."[11]
However, some critics commended Pfeiffer for her performance, notably Rolling Stone, who called it "a triumph. She is among that rarefied group of actresses (Anjelica Huston, Meryl Streep) whose work keeps taking us by surprise. Her powerfully subtle acting can tickle the funny bone or pierce the heart with equally uncanny skill."[7] The New York Times wrote that "Ms. Pfeiffer's extraordinary beauty makes her fine-tuned, deeply persuasive performance as the tough and fearful Frankie that much more surprising."[8]
Pacino also received critical praise. Rolling Stone wrote: "Pacino, whose recent work has been lugubrious (The Godfather Part III) or broad (Dick Tracy), shows a real flair for comic delicacy."[7] The New York Times wrote that "Mr. Pacino has not been this uncomplicatedly appealing since his Dog Day Afternoon days, and he makes Johnny's endless enterprise in wooing Frankie a delight. His scenes alone with Ms. Pfeiffer have a precision and honesty that keep the film's maudlin aspects at bay."[8]Variety, however, described him as "a warm, slobbering dog who can't leave people alone, Pacino's Johnny comes on real strong, and his pronounced neediness is too much at times."[11]
Kate Nelligan was singled out for her supporting turn; the New York Times wrote that "Kate Nelligan, nearly unrecognizable, is outstandingly enjoyable as the gum-chewing, man-crazy one."[8]Rolling Stone thought that "seeing this Royal Shakespeare Company actress cut loose with this bold and brassy performance is one of the film's zippiest treats."[7]
Awards and nominations
Frankie and Johnny received a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film, along with Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), for its "fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives."[13]
