Frankie And Johnny Are Married (2003)

67% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
43% of users liked it
(977 ratings)

Successful television director and film producer Michael Pressman sets off with high hopes when he decides to helm a film production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. He believes the experience of directing a film starring his struggling actress of a wife (Lisa Chess) will be a fun and… More Successful television director and film producer Michael Pressman sets off with high hopes when he decides to helm a film production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. He believes the experience of directing a film starring his struggling actress of a wife (Lisa Chess) will be a fun and relatively easy way to revitalize their marriage. Unfortunately, the decision to cast Alan Rosenberg to play Johnny proves disastrous -- Rosenberg is incredibly difficult to work with and Pressman's already tense relationship becomes steadily worse as the horrific rehearsal and filming process intensifies. The situation looks bleak when, after a devastating preview, Pressman is forced to shut down the play, relinquish his investment, and possibly lose his wife. Of course, the aggrieved director has one option: to take over the role of Johnny. The stakes have never been higher for the married couple, considering their future together appears to hinge on the final outcome of the film. Frankie and Johnny Are Married was directed in real life by the protagonist, Michael Pressman. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Michael Pressman
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: May 28, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Dec 20, 2005
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
It might be the first vanity project within a vanity project.
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle
Most entertaining is Alan Rosenberg's wicked spoof of actorly neuroses.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
We get, basically, a love note from one to the other. But what we don't get is an absorbing movie.
Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
A funny, tender, satisfying blend of fiction and cinema vérité.
Gene Seymour, Newsday
A chronicle of embarrassment that gratifyingly, if narrowly, avoids embarrassing itself.
Megan Lehmann, New York Post
There's little that's particularly dramatic or funny for the outsider in this autobiographical vanity project.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
A wonderfully entertaining, hilariously funny and sweetly touching story.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
The pleasant surprise is that it's often funny and unexpectedly engaging, in large part because Pressman knows better than to ask you to feel too sorry for the fictitious 'Pressman' and 'Chess.'
Phil Hall, Film-Forward.com
A glorified home movie, redeemed by Alan Rosenberg's hilarious performance as an egomaniacal actor.
Timothy Knight, Reel.com
A sharply written, directed, and acted character piece brimming with good-natured laughter and real affection.
Evan Henerson, Los Angeles Daily News
A delightful little sleeper of a love story.
, E! Online
It's art imitating life imitating art -- or something like that. Whatever, it's not very good.