To say that Frankie & Johnny capitalized on the success of When Harry Met Sally would be an understatement. While When Harry Met Sally was new, fresh, and celebrated, Frankie & Johnny felt played out, stale, and sometimes tiresome. This movie has all of the cliches that a romantic dramedy should have. A middle-aged woman is down on her luck after a number of failed relationships. Off the street comes a man who enters her life. She doesn’t want to like him. She doesn’t want to be involved because she knows she will inevitably be hurt again. So, instead, she spends her nights alone. He keeps pressing, and eventually, she lets him in. They have complications. She questions why he likes her. He responds with the “just let life happen” type response. We’ve seen this movie a million times and will see it a million more.

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Frankie, a down-on-her-luck waitress working at the same Manhattan Greek cafe for most of her adult life. Even on her best day, her hair still looks greasy and dangles in hundreds of directions. She doesn’t particularly enjoy her job but doesn’t hate it either. It is part of her routine; she sees no urge or reason to change her life. Al Pacino stars as Johnny, a short-order cook looking for a new job, a new start, and a fresh afterlife, dealt him a couple of damaging blows. He is hired at the diner and quickly becomes a favorite of the other employees. Outwardly, he is loud, optimistic, and full of life, but deep down inside, he is lonely, missing a former love, and struggling to let her and that life go.

We see each of them spend a few nights alone after work. Frankie either hangs out eating takeout with her gay neighbor or mostly watches romantic videos on her VCR. Johnny spends his time alone in his apartment pondering life, what might have been, and what still might come when he isn’t out engaging with women with whom he doesn’t feel anything.

Without much merit, he quickly realizes she is the one for him. As much as she resists his initial advances, she is drawn to him by his charm, good looks, and constant effort and soon agrees to go out with him. From there, we see the ups and downs of the relationship. He knows she is what he wants and is very vocal about it. She knows that he is what she wants, but she holds this deep inside of her for fear that he will hurt her. His promises that he is in it for the long haul slowly tear down her walls, and little by little, she lets him into her life. There are speed pumps and other obstacles along the way, but we watch as Frankie and Johnny attempt to figure out life.

There isn’t an actor and actress combo that could have pulled this story off in 90 minutes. It is too unrealistic for it to happen. Sure, I’ve bought into relationship stories that are 90-minute movies, but this one felt forced. Both Pfeiffer and Pacino probably realized halfway through the movie’s production that this one would not help either of their careers. They lack the onscreen chemistry required to drive this movie. The movie is a series of conversations between Frankie and Johnny and between them and the other characters. I felt myself not believing in their relationship and not caring about it. I couldn’t buy into Michelle Pfeiffer’s character being interested in Al Pacino’s character despite how much they tried to play down Pfeiffer’s natural good looks.

Garry Marshall, who directed 1990’s Pretty Woman, hoped to catch lightning in a bottle twice with Frankie and Johnny. That did not happen. All in all, Pfeiffer and Pacino’s acting could have been better. The side characters were interesting, but they almost felt like overblown cartoons than anything else. If you are interested in seeing character-driven romantic dramedies, I recommend 500 Days of Summer (2009), Up In the Air (2009), or Notting Hill (1999). The first two are more effective than Notting Hill, but I recommend all three. Then I recommend 100 more character-driven romantic dramedies before watching Frankie and Johnny.

Plot 5/10
Character Development 5/10
Character Chemistry 4/10
Acting 6/10
Screenplay 5/10
Directing 5/10
Cinematography 6/10
Sound 6/10
Hook and Reel 3/10
Universal Relevance 5/10
48%