'Pretty Woman' turns 25

Twenty-five years before Lily James shoehorned herself into a princess gown to play “Cinderella,” another up-and-comer donned a differently problematic dress for a romantic fairy tale that also struck box office gold.

That movie was “Pretty Woman.” Julia Roberts played the street-walking Cinderella in a now immortal bikini-dress hybrid that only barely covered her nether regions. But the character’s obliques-baring get-up and street-wise attitude landed her a week-long “date,” if you will, with a Prince Charming in the form of a corporate shark played by Richard Gere.

The movie’s tagline? “She walked off the street, into his life and stole his heart.” Awwww.

“Pretty Woman,” which opened 25 years ago Monday, was not the most impressive cinematic accomplishment of 1990. That would be “Home Alone,” obviously. Or, okay, “Goodfellas.”  Garry Marshall’s romantic comedy is riddled with editing errors, gaps in logic and a warped value system: The heroine is a prostitute redeemed by a corporate raider, for crying out loud. But all these years later, it holds up remarkably well, if you can turn off that think-piece portion of your brain. (Is she a feminist icon? Is she only worthy of love when in Rodeo Drive’s finest? Is this just “My Fair Lady” with sex? Just give up already and embrace the absurdity.)

But, at 22, she hadn’t yet headlined a movie and she certainly hadn’t flexed her comedic muscles the way she did in “Pretty Woman.” With her gangly frame and explosive laugh, she blended a wide-eyed earnestness with a knack for physical comedy. After so many subsequent dramatic roles, it’s easy to forget how talented Roberts is at bringing laughs: Her facial expressions are hilarious and well-timed when, for example, she tries to eat a mint leaf garnish or when she flings a snail across a fancy restaurant.

Roberts earned her second Oscar nomination — and second Golden Globe win — for playing Vivian.

In 1990, “Pretty Woman” raked in $463,406,268 globally, or more than $828 million in today’s terms — the most successful American romantic comedy in history. Its domestic total ($178 million) made it the fourth biggest moneymaker that year, behind “Home Alone,” “Ghost” and “Dances With Wolves.”

The fact that two of the top movies of 1990 were considered lady movies made studio execs sit up and take notice. Hey, women have money, too, and sometimes they want to see movies! (Does this conversation sound familiar?)

“Pretty Woman” was on the front end of a chick flick resurgence that spawned many a rom-com deluxe. Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Kate Hudson and, of course, Julia Roberts stayed very busy during this period, and while the movies weren’t all winners — remember “Kate & Leopold”? — many were very sweet, extremely funny and still entertaining years later. Even Seth Rogen’s college kid character in “Undeclared” loved “You’ve Got Mail.”