In this adaptation of Terrence McNally's play, Johnny (Al Pacino), an ex-con turned short order cook, woos Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer), a reluctant plain jane waitress. Set in a dingy Manhattan diner, the story revolves around Johnny's eager, won't-stop-at-anything attempt to draw the embittered, recalcitrant Frankie out of her shell. As the two loners inch closer to love, we learn about their past: how Johnny landed in prison and what soured Frankie on men and relationships.
Two down-on-their-luck New Yorkers meet over the short-order counter at a Greek cafe in Manhattan. She's a waitress with a painful past, too hurt to fall in love again; he's a divorced ex-con with a talent for cooking and a big heart, looking for a second chance, pursuing her.
Color by Technicolor; shot in Panavision on location in New York City and Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, California.
The play that inspired "Frankie & Johnny" opened on October 27, 1987 at the Manhattan Theatre Club and was transferred to the Westside Arts Theatre in early December that year. "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" won the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award for Best Play and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award. The roles of Frankie and Johnny were originally played by Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham, two performers who were considerably less photogenic than the film's glamorous stars. This was a point made by several critics who refused to believe that any woman who looked like Michelle Pfeiffer could have gone years without a date.
Additional cast: Jane Morris (Nedda), Greg Lewis (Tino), Al Fann (Luther), Fernando Lopez (Jorge), Tim Hopper (Lester), Harvey Miller (Mr. Rosen), Sean O'Bryan (Bobby), and Lucinda Crosby (Abused Neighbor).
Additional credits: Jim Harrison (supervising music editor), Cinema Research Corporation (opticals), and R/Greenberg and Associates (main and end title design).
Copyright 1991 Paramount Pictures Corporation.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Letterbox - 1.85
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
Scene Selection
Interactive Menus
Production Designer
Albert Brenner: Production Designer/Art Director
Review 1:
"...In it's celebration of cautious optimism, FRANKIE AND JOHNNY becomes the perfect love story for these troubled times..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.95-97 10/31/1991
Review 2:
"...[Pfeiffer is] fine-tuned, deeply persuasive....Pacino] makes Johnny's endless enterprise in wooing Frankie a delight..."
Source: New York Times
p.C1 10/11/1991
Review 3:
"...Cute and clever....[Pfeiffer's] realistic yet gently comic performance is a study in empathy and grace....Al Pacino is something else again..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.F1 10/11/1991
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