Hotel Manager Barney Thompson (Hector Elizondo) is more than understanding, especially with clients as wealthy as Mr. Lewis, his current penthouse resident. While trying to get Vivian to maintain a more low profile while in his hotel, he recognizes her plight and jumps in to save the day. When Edward returns to the hotel to pick up his "date," she has been transformed into an elegant and lovely young woman, who coincidentally charms the heck out of Edward's dinner companions. See, Edward is in the business of buying other people's companies and then systematically taking them apart. He makes lots of enemies in the process. Vivian sees no logic in this, though, since Edward isn't actually "making" anything, but simply destroying things. As Edward begins to fall in love with Vivian, she changes his thinking about what he is doing with his life, much to the chagrin of his conniving lawyer, Phil Stuckey (Jason Alexander), who takes every opportunity to remind Vivian of where she came from.
This movie is all about love and the transformations it can bring about in people. It's a modern day retelling of the classic Cinderella fairytale, with a few twists. This is classic Julia Roberts stuff (this movie pretty much made her career) and if you've never had the opportunity to see it, you are really missing out. While I didn't really notice any huge visual breakthroughs in watching this film on Blu-ray, it does look and sound terrific. There are some classic 90's tunes on the soundtrack as well. The acting is great, with standout performances by Hector Elizondo and Jason Alexander. In the way of special features, there's not a ton of stuff, but what is there is good. There's a blooper reel, a featurette on the wrap party, the typical commentary and theatrical trailer, a music video and a tour of L.A., plus a making-of featurette. Like I said, most are fairly short, but they are enjoyable.
If you haven't yet added Pretty Woman to your movie collection, then now is the time. Pick it up today on Blu-ray.
