Bovie Movie

Originally meant to be a serious drama (called $3,000) about a man buying a prostitute for the night, this turned into a delightful romantic comedy in the hands of Garry Marshall and sent the career of star Julia Roberts into the stratosphere. Co-star Richard Gere didn’t do too badly either — he’d been on a downward spiral before the role of tycoon Edward Lewis came along. On screen they make the “hooker falls for a millionaire in Beverly Hills” tale completely plausible, aided by Marshall’s glossy direction, the hit-filled soundtrack, a perky screenplay from JF Lawton (who also scripted the thriller Under Siege) and hilarious support from Marshall stalwart Hector Elizondo. 

Rebellious teenager Rachel (Lohan) screams, swears, drinks and is-in a word-uncontrollable. With her latest car crash, Rachel has broken the final rule in mom Lily’s (Golden Globe winner Huffman) San Francisco home. With nowhere else to take the impulsive and rambunctious girl, Lily hauls her daughter to the one place she swore she’d never return…her own mother’s Idaho farm. Matriarch Georgia (two-time Oscar® winner Fonda) is not your typical sweet and doting grandmother. She lives her life by a number of unbreakable rules, demanding anyone who shares her home do the same-God comes first and hard work comes a very close second. Now saddled with raising the young woman, it will require each patient breath she takes to understand Rachel’s fury. But as Rachel succumbs to her summer of misery and shakes up the tiny Mormon town, Georgia notices something is changing within her granddaughter. Given structure and responsibilities, Rachel is letting her guard down and learning compassion…especially for her mother. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that-regardless what happens-the ties that bind can never be broken.

Despite the regality of the title, this is a downmarket comedy with its box-office intentions very much aimed at the pre-teen market. Julie Andrews projects her usual sweet-faced radiance as Queen Clarisse Renaldi of Genovia — and revives memories of her My Fair Lady on Broadway — in another variation on the Pygmalion story. The Eliza Doolittle character here is San Francisco schoolgirl Mia Thermopolis — played for sympathy rather than understanding by Anne Hathaway — who’s so clumsy that she’s always at the mercy of cheerleader bullies. But when the gauche geek finds out she’s next in line to the throne of a small European country, she receives a royal makeover from her new-found grandmother. As he did with his biggest box-office hit Pretty Woman, director Garry Marshall has a wish-fulfilling romance on his hands, but on this occasion he is too interested in humdrum school scenes rather than the dilemmas of an ugly duckling-made-royal. Thank heavens for a performance of class from Andrews. 

This charming throwback to the screwball comedies of the 1930s is one of the better vehicles designed for Goldie Hawn. She plays a pampered heiress to a fortune, who loses her memory after falling off her luxury yacht. Carpenter Kurt Russell, who had clashed with her earlier, sees the chance for revenge and convinces her that she is his wife. The chemistry between the two stars (a couple in real life) is complemented by the performances of an experienced supporting cast that includes Katherine Helmond, Roddy McDowall and Edward Herrmann. It’s slickly directed by Garry Marshall, who juggles the sharp repartee and knockabout slapstick with ease.