The Movie: I'm not exactly sure how this DVD ended up in my Netflix queue, but I if I had to guess, I'd say that I probably just got really drunk and added every Al Pacino movie I could find. Frankie and Johnny is a chick flick, although I guess I'd say that for a chick flick, this one is definitely on the grittier side of things.

Al Pacino plays Johnny, a man who is just out of prison with a reputation of being a great cook, and with a fresh, romantic outlook on life. He ends up getting a job at a diner in Manhattan, where he meets Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer), a waitress whose life is going nowhere and seems jaded toward everything in life, especially love. He falls in love. She pulls away, but finally he cuts through all the bitterness and gets to the real her and they fall in love and live happily ever after.

Like I said, chick flick. But it is all in a pretty down and dirty setting, and they do explore some complex emotional issues that many people might be able to relate to, but let's face it, there's a good reason why I hadn't even heard of this movie until I saw it on Netflix... it just ain't all that great. And at nearly 2 hours long, it's a bit long for this type of film, in my opinion.

The DVD: The video transfer on this film was pretty murky, with poor contrast, an overall soft image (that they tried to compensate for with excessive edge enhancement) -- it was hard to believe this film was made in 1991 when the quality of this video transfer made it look more like something that was made in 1971. Audio was just functional, but it's 5.1 surround in name only -- you won't be getting much (if any) surround effects from this film, though I guess you wouldn't really expect to either. The only special feature you will find on this disc is a trailer. Overall, I'd have to give this one a "pass" unless you are out on some mission to watch every Pacino film ever made, or something.