Frankie and Johnny
What Do I Think of ...?
The story: I love the story of the movie. It's a romance movie that also provided some insights to people who are lonely. In fact the ubiquitous theme of the movie was loneliness. From different characters in the movie, that ranges from the lead to the supporting to the peripheral parts without a single line in the movie, loneliness was the common feeling among them. And even though the supporting characters weren't as fleshed out as the two lead characters, their small roles contributed something in the movie.
The performance: Michelle Pfeiffer gave a very affectionate performance. You felt her quiet sorrow every time she cries. Her best scene happened in the end of the movie as she finally tells Johnny that she used to be a battered wife and that because of that she won't be able to have children. And then she went on about how she's afraid of everything. She's afraid of being a waitress for the rest of her life but she's afraid to quit her work, she's afraid to end up alone but she's also afraid to be in love because of the strings attached to it. She's so afraid to get out of that comfort zone that she built for herself, she's afraid of taking chances. I think Pfeiffer evoked quite well those sentiments in a straightforward and moving way. And in the very end of the movie when she finally decided to take a chance on love with Johnny (symbolized by offering him a toothbrush), the first step she did for a very long time to move on with her life, the audience felt the "small" triumph of the character. And Pfeiffer was luminous as the screen fades into the end credits.
The character: Frankie is a fragile, lonely, vulnerable, and afraid woman who kept on telling herself she's single by choice when in fact she was emotionally incapable of being connected or intimate with someone. She preferred to experience life through other people. She prefers to be the outsider and just observe to spare her from the sometimes not so pleasant things attached to that kind of involvement. This is one my personal all time favorite roles of Pfeiffer for many reasons. First, Frankie is a very relatable character. You don't have to be as miserable as her to understand where she's coming from. Second, I like some of the character's quirks and philosophies like how much she considers having a VCR some sort of life goal. VCR is her equivalent of most people's car or house. Another thing that I like is that she collects elephants or that she doesn't understand the word empathy. All those little things that were never really important but somehow adds complexity to the character. Third, there's depth in the character. She's obviously vulnerable yet she presents herself otherwise. Everybody knows it except her.
The costars: Al Pacino was a delight to see in an semi against type role. He was funny and goofy without being ironic and out of place. The character he played was simpler and less showy compared to the grandness of Pfeiffer's character. Kate Nelligan turned into a surprisingly moving performance as she contemplated the possibility of being alone for the rest of her life. But the majority of her scenes were comical whether she was on top of Al Pacino endlessly waiting for him to "get finished", getting back at a man who's been making sexual advances to her, or messing with Nedda forcing her to say vulgar words. Nathan Lane stole some scenes as the innocently sarcastic best friend of Frankie.
Notes, Observations, Questions Etc.
The casting for the role of Frankie was controversial because just think about it, how in hell can a role originated by a plain looking character actress Kathy Bates suddenly become a role for the beyond gorgeous Pfeiffer. You have to see Pfeiffer's movies, and you'll get the answers yourself.
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