Eight years after their first collaboration in Brian De Palma’s SCARFARE, Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer reteamed for a more light-hearted film in an adaptation of Terrence McNally’s stage play FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE, directed by Garry Marshall (PRETTY WOMAN)
Frankie (Pfeiffer) is a disheartened waitress living alone, Johnny (Pacino) is a recently released parolee who finds a job working in the restaurant where Frankie works. He quickly establishes himself as an effective worker, but begins to develop an attraction to the ever-distant Frankie, even when they attend a leaving do of another colleague together. As is expected, the bond begins to grow between them.
A year after the ‘big, big, huge’ success of PRETTY WOMAN, Marshall created another big-screen winner, although it didn’t quite hit the heights of the Richard Gere / Julia Roberts film. It’s still a fun ride, with two great lead performances from Pacino and Pfeiffer, with Pacino proving that he can do light comedy as well as the darker roles that he has been known for.