Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is lonely, but at the moment she's more afraid of going through all the angst associated with beginning a new relationship than with being alone.
Johnny (Al Pacino) is also lonely, but, fresh out of prison with a renewed sense of optimism and enthusiasm for life, he is anxious to find love with someone. Perhaps a bit too anxious.
Naturally, Johnny sets his sights on Frankie, and thus begins a tempestuous relationship. "Frankie and Johnny, like in that song," Johnny says, suggesting that fate has brought them together. "Didn't they end up killing each other?" she eventually asks. "Nah," Johnny replies. "She killed him. You have the advantage there."
Adapted by Terrence McNally from his play "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," and sentimentally directed by Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman"), "Frankie and Johnny" is a witty and bright if superficial look at '90s relationships. It is also unabashedly romantic, the primary twist being that the man wants to commit and the woman runs away.
Johnny heads for New York City after he is released from prison, where he was the prison cook. He finds an apartment and decides to better himself by expanding his vocabulary and reading Shakespeare.
When he lands a job as a short-order cook at the Apollo Cafe, run by friendly Nick (Hector Elizondo), he meets waitress Frankie, who is somewhat taken with him. But she's sworn off men, and she's also self-conscious about her lack of education.
Nevertheless, he pursues her relentlessly, pausing only briefly for a fling with another waitress, the flirtatious Cora, played against type by Kate Nelligan, who is terrific.
There are some hearty laughs here, and some sweet and sad moments as well. When Frankie reveals why she is so set against getting involved with someone again and Johnny explains why he was in prison, the revelations are hardly earthshaking. Yet, they ring true to the material and are quite satisfying.
Marshall does have a tendency to overdirect at times, as when Frankie and Johnny have their first kiss at a florist shop and a truckload of flowers fills the screen behind them. But he has developed such rich characters here and made such a warm film overall that his excesses are forgivable.
The major complaint about "Frankie and Johnny" from critics around the country is that, despite an attempt being made to make Michelle Pfeiffer appear blowzy, she's simply too beautiful for the role, which was played on the New York stage by Kathy Bates (who won an Oscar for "Misery").
There's no question that the proceedings would be at another level of resonance with a plain woman being pursued by a lovestruck lug this way, and it would have been a much more interesting film with a less glamorous star in the role. But it's hard to complain since Pfeiffer makes the character her own and is quite marvelous in her own right.
Pacino also shines, and in fact, appears to be having the time of his life in one of his most relaxed screen portrayals.
Nelligan, Elizondo, Nathan Lane as Pfeiffer's very funny neighbor across the hall and Jane Morris, amusing as unattractive co-worker Nedda, all deserve kudos for terrific character work.
"Frankie and Johnny" earns its R rating for a graphic sex scene, racy dialogue, nudity and violence.