Born yesterday

Year of release : 1993

Run time : 1h40m

Genre : Drama

Cast : Melanie Griffith, John Goodman, Don Johnson

The movie is based on the 1946 Garson Kanin play of the same name, and a remake of the 1950's movie.

Business man Harry Brock arrives in Washington with his girlfriend ,Billie, who is not into politics, as she used to be a showgirl in Las Vegas when they started dating, 8 years prior.

Reporter Paul Verrall is interviewing Harry, and Harry hires him for 500 dollars a day, to teach Billie what she needs to know to be seen as smart in Washington high society, after she has the amazing idea to accept to be interviewed on a radio show.

They go out once and Billie wants to be with Paul, but he refuses, so they continue as friends. He teaches her a few sentences to appear smart when asked questions, and when testing the theory it works fabulously. But this makes Billie want to actually read and be smart. She reads a book the radio show host asked her about "Democracy in America", which she can barely finish, and Harry mocks her for being unable to read, and when she finally finishes it, and talks to the radio host about it, the woman admits she never read it, she just said so to make herself sound smart. Billie realizes it's all about appearances as people are not who they say they are, and don't do or read the things they say they do.

She learns the Constitution amendments and teaches the senators how to learn them in a Christmas song which bored me!

All this time, Harry and his lawyer keep on making her sign papers they don't let her read, and when she wises up she wants to, but they don't allow her, to the point she thinks she might sign papers which might get her into trouble.

I personally didn't like the movie, which started out well, but it felt it didn't go anywhere and didn't actually have a plot.

The movie is labeled a romantic comedy, but it's not. I didn't laugh once. I was wondering if it's a satire. There's one scene in which Harry slaps Billie twice, to the point she ends up on the floor! How is that funny and how is that romantic?!

Harry is also always angry. He always talks down on her, calls her names like "dumb", and then turns around and says he loves her. No, he's just a bully.

Billie doesn't even think about leaving him until the end of the movie,when he slaps her around (after which he proposes to her, while Paul also proposes to her, and she accepts Paul - she didn't even date Paul !)!

I liked the places where they filmed at, the architecture, the interior design, and Melanie Griffith's outfits, especially her jewelry. Everything used to be so beautiful back then!

The acting was fine.

I hated the Jazzy soundtrack, which seemed to have been funny, like for a comedy.

The movie's title comes from a line Billie says towards the end of the movie.

The movie received negative reviews,but CinemaScore audiences graded it a B.

Melanie Griffith was nominated for Worst Actress at the Raspberry Awards, but lost to Madonna.

The movie made almost 18 million dollars at the box office .

I understand why the movie was a flop, because in the '90's women weren't seen as stupid anymore, and being b3aten wasn't cool anymore.

Rating : Could have been a contender !