Runaway Bride 1 and 1/2 Stars (Out of 4) Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org July 20, 1999 USA Release Date - July 30, 1999
Runaway Bride has the same characters, lead cast, director, and genre as the 1990 hit, Pretty Woman. Yet it simply isn't as good as its antecedent, because the plot can only work one time before becoming over used, or perhaps because the R rated sexual humor from Runaway Bride's nine year predecessor is largely absent this time in favor of a family friendly PG rating.
Julia Roberts plays Maggie Carpenter, a woman who has three times used her walk down the aisle as a warm up to the sprint that soon followed as she escaped the wedding vows. A very flirtatious and beautiful woman, she seems to have no qualms about going from man to man. Her father even quips "She may not be the longest running joke in town, but she sure is the fastest." Roberts' portrayal of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman was very similar if not identical.
In Pretty Woman, Vivian began to reform when a very conservative man, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) entered her life. Nearly a decade later, Gere does it again when he enters Maggie's life as a New York City newspaper reporter, Ike Graham. Continuing with the long list of similarities, Runaway Bride includes a scene where Gere has to negotiate to buy Roberts' time and attention, and another where he takes her dress shopping- perhaps the two most memorable and acclaim scenes from Pretty Woman.
Runaway Bride is a visually astounding film. The panoply of scenery is never better highlighted than the opening sequence where images of a horse trotting through a field in the marvelous country side are quickly cut to images of New York City. The many scenes out of city are beautifully framed with lovely background and pastel colors. The city scenes are more edgy and harsh visually, providing a nice juxtaposition of the opposite lifestyles that collide.
The only sexual jokes you'll find in Runaway Bride come from Maggie's grandmother, and are watered down references to "the one eyed monster" and its duties on the wedding night. The biggest laughs come from hair dye and a cheesy FedEx joke about on-time delivery. You can't help but miss the numerous references to condoms, drugs, and prostitution that the jokes in Pretty Woman provided, creating far bigger laughs than anything you'll find here.
Runaway Bride holds itself to a higher standard by choosing to display numerous similarities to Pretty Woman, and never being the slightest bit shy about it. Because of that, it ends up committing a suicide of sorts; having attempted to shoot for the stars and not being willing to settle for the sky instead. At one point in the film, Ike explains his profession by saying "We push, we stretch, we go out on a limb." Runaway Bride does just that, it pushes, it stretches, and it goes out on a limb. But I think the limb just snapped.
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