Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Richard Gere Slams The Best Movie He Ever Made

A photo of Richard Gere

Stop waving, Richard. Everyone’s mad at you.

Rightfully so, though. Richard Gere recently opened his stupid mouth to talk some trash about what is, without a doubt, the best Richard Gere movie in existence. I don’t really have to tell you what it is, do I? Nobody’s thinking “gee, what could he possibly have to say about Shall We Dance?” But fine, I’ll tell you anyway.

Pretty Woman. Richard Gere has something to say about Pretty Woman that isn’t “thank you, film, for being the most amazing romantic comedy that ever was and ever will be, and for putting me straight into the hearts of millions of people, and for making it possible for me and Julia Roberts to do Runaway Bride, which wasn’t half bad either.” Some people just can’t appreciate anything.

From Us Weekly:

Turns out Richard Gere thinks Pretty Woman is actually pretty terrible.

Opening up to Australia’s Woman’s Day magazine, the actor, 62, admits he’s not particularly proud of the 1990 flick that launched Julia Roberts into stardom.

“It’s my least favorite thing,” Gere says. “People ask me about [it], but I’ve forgotten it. That was a silly romantic comedy.”

The film grossed over $463 million worldwide, and helped establish Roberts’ status as America’s Sweetheart–and solidified Gere’s own status as a major crush object for women everywhere.

Despite the movie’s feel-good tone, though, Gere says looking back, he has a real problem with his character’s attitudes towards life, and love. “[Pretty Woman] made [guys like Edward] seem dashing, which was so wrong,” the actor explains. “Thankfully, today, we are all more skeptical of those guys.”

First of all, Richard, no, you haven’t “forgotten it.” Pretty Woman has been out in this world for 22 years, and no one who’s seen it has forgotten it. Second of all, it has been a few years since I’ve seen this movie – mostly I just watched it obsessively when I was younger, probably between the ages of 8 and 12, because it was one of the movies my mom wouldn’t let me watch but my sister would put in for me when she was watching me (the other notable example of this was that time when I wouldn’t do my homework without watching some of Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood) – but I remember Richard Gere’s character being really, really sad. I never thought of him as some dashing dreamboat, I thought he was more like a really flawed dude looking for companionship in all the wrong places, just like Julia Roberts’ character, and that’s why it worked. Is that not what actually happened?

Regardless, I think it’s always a bad idea to bite the hand that feeds, especially when that hand has probably been feeding you pretty steadily for the past 20 years.

6 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Honestly, who cares what Richard Gere thinks about a movie he did 22 years ago? He’s allowed to be “over it”.

  • I’m with Richard on this, he has done WAY better movies. Ever heard of a little movie called “An Officer and A Gentleman”? Maybe even “American Gigilo”
    or “Mr. Jones”, “Unfaithful” – even “Mothman Prophecies” (ok I know these were later movies, but when I think Richard Gere I think of these – not that crap Julia Roberts hooker shit)

  • Totally with Richard on this. I actually didn’t read him saying the movie was shit, but I think it was. I mean, in its day it seemed okay, but viewing it now I think, “God, that’s awful.”

    I also think his critique of his character, in the movie, is thoughtful; he “bought” a hooker, for Christ’s sake. Yeah, that is sad, but also quite callous.

  • Totally agree with Richard. Pretty Woman is a terrible movie that fills young girls with the idea that hooker life is fabulous and can lead to meeting the gazillionaire of your dreams and you’ll live happily ever after without pimps, STDs, drugs and other issues. Hats off to Richard for politely calling out the trash for what it is — trash. Gere remains a class act.

  • I WILL BE YOUR GIRL FREIND
    LOVE TO HAVE YOU I WILL
    YES I WILL BE YOUR BOY FREIND
    I WILL
    LOVE YOU ALL HEART
    I CHOOSE YOU I LIKE YOU