Garry Marshall knew how to give charming actors room to work and make a fairy tale inviting. We recommend his romantic escapism when the affection feels earned; the expensive surroundings are less persuasive evidence of happiness.
Fi1m perspective
Marshall leaves Julia Roberts and Richard Gere room to enjoy one another's company in Pretty Woman (1990). There is no need to turn every exchange into a declaration, and he knows it. We were touched by that unforced affection, which makes the arrangement between a sex worker and a wealthy executive feel less calculated. This is good romantic escapism, made by someone who understands how little a charming actor sometimes needs from a director.
His television work helps explain the light touch: he co-created The Odd Couple (1970) with Jerry Belson and created Happy Days (1974). His first feature was Young Doctors in Love (1982), but moving to films did not mean abandoning his preference for bright, accessible entertainment. Beaches (1988) made room for sentimental drama, while Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries (2001) offered Cinderella-style transformations. Later ensemble films, including Mother's Day (2016), continued the pursuit of a broad audience. The recurring concern is how to make people feel welcome, sometimes at the expense of giving them something awkward to think about.
In Pretty Woman, that invitation is carefully made. Charles Minsky's photography flatters the couple and their surroundings, while Albert Brenner's production design makes Edward's money look tempting before anyone argues for it. Marilyn Vance's costumes make Vivian's proposed change in social position easy to read. These are useful collaborators for a director who wants the fantasy understood at once, and their work helps explain why its assumptions are so easy to accept.
The difficulty comes when J.F. Lawton's screenplay treats expensive company as evidence of a better life. Marshall makes the attraction credible without making that proposition any sounder, and the flattering images give us little encouragement to question it. A romantic comedy need not settle an argument about wealth, but this one asks us to accept rather a lot along with the romance. Start with Pretty Woman for Roberts and Gere, and be prepared to disagree with it about what money can do.
Biography
Garry Marshall was an American actor, director, writer and producer. Born in New York City on 13 November 1934, he died in Burbank, California, on 19 July 2016. He studied journalism at Northwestern University before beginning his career as a joke writer for comedians and later as a writer for The Tonight Show.
Marshall created several successful television sitcoms, including The Odd Couple and Happy Days, as well as its spin-offs Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. He directed numerous feature films, among them Pretty Woman (1990), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001) and its sequel, Valentine's Day (2010) and Mother's Day (2016).
As an actor, he appeared in films such as Hocus Pocus (1993) and A League of Their Own (1992), and in television series including The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
