10 Great Films From Bad Directors

Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time of its release, Pretty Woman has unquestionably reached classic status over the years. Telling the tale of charming sex worker Vivian and her corporate client Edward, the plot follows their descent into mutual love.

Pretty Woman is a joyful tale of good chemistry, good humour and learning to trust those close to you. As retold in Netflix’s brilliant documentary series The Movies That Made Us, 3000 - as it was originally titled - was meant to have a much darker, more realistic tone.

Had it not been for the inexperience of director Garry Marshall, as well as his blatant disregard for the script, this is the film we would have gotten. Marshall opted to record several takes of each scene, with wildly different tones in each and also let lead actors Richard Gere and Julia Roberts simply improvise many of their scenes.

This risky manoeuvre paid off in dividends as letting the leads’ natural chemistry speak for itself is arguably what made the film so great. Its romantic conclusion was all the more satisfying when the characters themselves were given the breathing room to endear themselves to the audience. For that, we have Marshall to thank.