Nine years ago, they made movie history (and bucks) with the fantasy Pretty Woman. Now they've reunited hoping lightning strikes twice. The plot is pretty basic: Roberts is a small-town girl who has a habit of dumping men at the altar, Gere's a big-city columnist who goes native to write up an article about whether she'll ditch her latest beau. Predictable complications ensue.
One nice thing is that Hollywood has finally figured out that Julia Roberts isn't a raving beauty that we want to stare at, but rather one of the better comediennes around. Her timing is razor-like, and her command of the comic gesture is fabulous. It's amazing what she can do with just the slump of a shoulder or cock of a head.
Unfortunately, she can't do anything to save this story which is as predictable (and bland) as a McDonald's hamburger. Even the little eight-year-old in front of me knew where this movie was going, and the twist Marshall throws in at the end only serves to delay the movie's inevitable conclusion. My only concern was whether jilted fiancee #4 was going to play the buffoon or find true love around another corner.
If you're more interested in the journey than the end point, though, Runaway Bride has a lot to offer. The dialogue is sharp and genuinely funny. Roberts and Gere exhibit tons more chemistry than they did in Pretty Woman; and both characters are more complex and less figments of pure fantasy this time around. And the bit players add a nice mix. Runaway Bride is as traditional as they come, but at least the flowers are nice. Romantics and those who date them should be pleased.
J Robert Parks
Despite the reoccurrence of both big box office stars and director Garry Marshall, Runaway Bride is far from being Pretty Woman 2. Well, nearly as far as one successful Hollywood romantic comedy can be from another, and still hit all the marks of this tried and true genre.
Whereas Pretty Woman was much beloved by the hordes who mobbed the cinemas to see it, Runaway Bride actually provides a more believable and respectable story which is sure to please moviegoers fond of such fancies. Julia Roberts is wisely cast in a more comic role as speedy would-be bride Maggie Carpenter who leaves a team of men grounded at the altar. Plus, she gets to wear a bridal magazine's worth of tailor-made wedding dresses! Richard Gere is also more amusingly bumbling in his portrayal of pursuing reporter Ike Graham. Of course, they'll fall in love, but the big question is whether or not she will leave him high and dry on the big day like the suitors before him. And if you had troubles with Pretty Woman's thinly-veiled Pygmalion premise of the happy prostitute rising from the streets to marry her corporate sugar daddy, Runaway Bride is squeaky clean and nearly free of such irksome issues of both morality and plausibility. Sure, this story is just as predictable, but also more congenially acted and scripted. Not to mention more fun, thanks in part to an excellent supporting cast like Joan Cusack and Hector Elizondo yukking it up. Only the most bitter of relationship cynics would find this charming, cute story to be a stinker. Rather than walking staggeringly down the aisle, you may run to a cinema near you and catch this bride while you still can.
Steven S. Baldwin 8/24/99
