purchase movies I have seen a million times. I have only seen this movie a couple times. But by the time I finished watching it I remembered- it has food, small NYC apartments, Greeks!, gay best friends and laugh out loud funny moments. Those are some of my favorite things! It stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino and one of my FAVORITE actors Hector Elizondo- bonus points for those of you who can go back through the gems on the blog here and find my other Hector spotlights. There is also a film of the same name that stars Elvis Presley- this film is not a remake or anything like that, both movies just use the names and the famous song "Frankie and Johnny" from 1904.
Anyway so Frankie and Johnny both end up in NY for different reasons. Frankie is a waitress and we later find out used to be in a very abusive relationship and Johnny just got out of prison. They end up to be working in the same restaurant. Hector has a ponytail and runs the restaurant where they work and at one point you see a VCR on sale in a window for $199. That is crazy! But as my loyal blog followers might also know- I am not a big fan of these overly romantic movies anymore. This movie has some lovey dovey going on. And some kind of gross kissing, like suck on the whole face kind of kissing. Gross. And there is some s.e.x. I fast forwarded through that- double gross.
Frankie reminds me of me in a way- she is nice but might be at her wits end. She is one tough cookie too- she don't need nobody for nothing. She is also friends with all the other waitresses at work, sort of like a little family. She talks to the regulars and cares about them, and I love that when someone cannot open a jar, they hand it to Frankie and she opens it almost effortlessly. And because it is women's history month, that makes me smile a little extra. She's got a mouth on her- I love the use of the f word when it is appropriate like it is in this movie. I read somewhere that people thought Michelle was too pretty to play Frankie and maybe that is why it looks like she does not wear makeup in the film, but again that reminds me of me. The Apollo Restaurant she works in is painted in a way that makes it look like Greece or another Mediterranean isle- which reminds me of Grecian Island, my favorite Coney Island restaurant from home. There is also one scene where she is eating warm caramel sauce from the jar and it gets stuck in her throat and she gives herself the heimlich maneuver. It doesn't sound funny but it was- and it was right after she is looking at all these couples in their NY apartments having dinner or petting their puppy. I am sure it was meant to give us viewers the impression that she does not want to die alone, as she almost dies alone in her apartment. That makes me think of that line in When Harry Met Sally when Harry tells Sally he does not want want to "die one of those NY deaths where no one notices until the smell seeps out into the hallway." Anyway, Johnny comes on strong and some other things happen, and well...you will have to watch the rest of the movie to find out.
If I were to program with Frankie and Johnny, I am not sure what I would do. Hold on while I ponder that...listen to Claire de Lune for a minute...google Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune...ok program time.
You could plan one about proper dental hygiene, the feng shui of elephant decor, how to live in a studio apartment, or even use this movie as part of a Garry Marshall film festival that highlights some great Rom Coms. I recently learned some new internet slang so hmu if you want more programming info. :)
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