Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 27, 1993 TAG: 9303270161
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At first, the new version that opened Friday appears to be just another remake that nobody needs. But the people at the Disney Studios, where this one was produced, really had another film in mind, something much more recent to help the sagging careers of Melanie Griffith and her husband, Don Johnson.
Their last appearance together was "Paradise," which arrived and sank without a ripple about a year ago. This time, the hapless duo is stuck in a lifeless romantic comedy.
The only energy in the film is provided by John Goodman. He turns in another larger-than-life performance as Harry Brock, a self-made millionaire who comes to Washington, D.C., to grease some palms for his newest project.
Accompanied by his flunkies and his live-in girlfriend Billie Dawn (Griffith), he checks into a luxurious suite at the Willard Hotel. But first he's got to do an interview with a local writer, Paul Verrall (Johnson). Brock's lawyer (Edward Herrmann) assures him that a profile by the brainy Verrall will look good to the power brokers.
But at their first Washington party, it becomes clear that Billie is so ignorant, she's an embarrassment. When asked what she thinks America should do about the fall of the Eastern Bloc in Europe, she wonders why we should fix their streets when we can't fix our own. Brock decides to hire Verrall to "smarten her up" while he works on a few influential senators.
The first and largest problem with the film is that the two leads are never believable. Even their most devoted fans will have a hard time accepting that Melanie Griffith could be that dumb, or that Don Johnson could be that smart. In place of real character development or acting, they have to resort to visual cliches: He wears glasses; she wears low-cut dresses and heavy-duty foundation garments.
Compounding that weakness, the script by Douglas McGrath is nothing but talk. Paul and Billie talk in coffee shops, in front of the hotel, in art museums, in parks, in carriages. And what they say is neither interesting nor funny.
Whenever Goodman charges in front of the camera, the action picks up considerably. But he's often absent and toward the end, the mean, ugly side of his character takes over.
Director Luis Mandoki ("Gaby: A True Story," "White Palace") does manage to give the Washington locations an expensive, romantic look, but that's not enough to recreate the fantasy atmosphere of "Pretty Woman," and that's really what this remake aspires to be.
Clearly, the executives at Disney were thinking, if we just replace the Beverly Hills Hotel with the Willard, and Richard Gere with Don Johnson, and Julia Roberts with Melanie Griffith . . .
In the end, then, "Born Yesterday" is less a remake than a wanna-be.
\ Born Yesterday:*1/2 A Hollywood Pictures release playing at the Tanglewood Mall. Rated PG for domestic violence. 100 min.
by CNB