Pretty Woman (15th Anniversary Special Edition) (1990)

New York Times
"...Something special....[Roberts] is so enchantingly beautiful, so funny, so natural and such an absolute delight that it is hard to hold anything against the movie..." 03/23/1990 p.C20

Entertainment Weekly
"...This flick was all about Julia..." 01/11/2002 p.41

Entertainment Weekly
"Roberts' break-out movie..." 09/09/2005 p.134-135

Apollo Movie Guide 8 of 10
There is so very much to hate about Pretty Woman...Start with the obvious: its romanticization of the sex trade. This movie of the fairytale rags-to-riches success of a young Los Angeles prostitute (Julia Roberts) who just needs a night with mega zillionaire Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) to be transformed from streetwalker to sweet woman-of-everyone's-dreams, is based on a truly offensive premise...Sure, the movie touches -- ever so briefly and from a safe distance -- the topics of addictions and safe sex, but this is only in passing and is barely noticeable compared to the fundamental premise here -- that this is a reasonable option for a young woman. Yech...Then consider how Pretty Woman revels in wealth and excess. Are we really supposed to be charmed by the obnoxious waste of two people jetting off from Los Angeles to San Francisco for an hour or two of opera? In their own private jet?...And complete this trifecta of objectionableness by considering the shallowness of director Garry Marshall's film, along with pretty much everything else he has ever created...Yes, there is much to hate about Pretty Woman. Until you actually sit down and watch the film...Don't get me wrong. All the criticisms are true. No doubt about it. Yet Roberts shines so brightly, and her chemistry with Gere feels so authentic, it's impossible not to fall in love with her, in a brief and insubstantial Hollywood Moment kind of way...By all accounts, Garry Marshall is an extremely nice man, and he certainly doesn't need an endorsement by me after a record of virtually unparalleled television and big screen success. But for what it's worth and against all odds, the presence of the incomparable Roberts makes Pretty Woman a damn enjoyable career-defining film for Marshall, and a guilty pleasure for movie lovers. - Brian Webster
 
The Washington Post 8 of 10
"Pretty Woman" is a working girl indeed, not just some underemployed wretch in a typing pool, but an honest-to-God streetwalking Cinderella who finds her corporate Prince Charming, a Wall Street tycoon lost along Hollywood's Boulevard of Stars. A tale of two hustlers, this romp reminds us, as if we could forget between money movies, that there is great similarity between the Street and the streets...The movie is a hash, a Frankensteinian fantasy of great romantic moments. Written by newcomer J.F. Lawton, the comedy is a mosaic of "Moonstruck," "Splash," "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "Working Girl," "My Fair Lady" and "An Officer and a Gentleman," among others. The only thing missing is King Kong...Julia Roberts and Richard Gere costar in this bubbly scamper, which goes to the head like champagne -- the cheap, sweet kind that leaves you with a throbbing head. And yet this monstrously derivative romance is great giddy fun. Champagne is champagne, after all, and Roberts is sheer carbonation. An Oscar nominee for her role in "Steel Magnolias," she is as exuberant as a cheerleader in the role of streetwise Vivian Ward. One of the good prostitutes, she has been driven by circumstances to sell sex, when she is rescued by Edward Lewis (Gere)...Directed by Garry Marshall, a veteran of TV sitcoms and movie dramedies, the movie dances along, a whirl of fashion shows and magic moments, mush and comic irony...It's cotton candy of the most commonplace and shabby fantasies spun into a frighteningly appealing gossamer. With its sure direction, captivating performances -- including supporting ones by Hector Elizondo and Laura San Giacomo -- and clever dialogue, "Pretty Woman" seduces all but the most wary. That's because the lady is a tramp. - Rita Kempley