Funny Face (1957)

Girls ... Think Pink!

I have to say that as a once-proud bookstore owner, I was absolutely appalled at the absolute disrespect for private property and the handling of the books and the young Audrey in the film's opening. I cringed for those few moments when she was brushed outside and made to choke on the smoggy air of New York City. The real kick in the pants was when the old dodger Astaire planted a fatty right on the very tame Hepburn kisser. You could be arrested for no less these days, haha.

So, Funny Face is really Ira Gershwin's most impressionable and lasting film? I guess that's not a bad thing. The songs are quaint and a bit cutesy when sung or `spoken' by Audrey, but it's not to their detriment or the song's. The music is what gives the movie some real charm.

"You're not exotic ... but oh, so hypnotic."

Truer words could not have been spoken about Audrey Hepburn as that was honestly her most endearing quality and the reason why we all love her. She, thankfully, wasn't Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra and she wasn't ever Lauren Bacall in the Big Sleep, but closer to that bon vivant feeling that was so evident in the early years of Ingrid Bergman. Notice how I make no modern references when discussing Audrey. I don't think anyone comes close these days, or probably ever will. It's all in shambles now.

Thank god that the French were drinking Absinthe during the Café Scene where she gives her legendary `kitty cat on the prowl dance routine' that always makes a person grin from ear to ear.

The film does disappear into a strange level of mediocre film making in between the period from the frolicking on the meadow at the church, to the beatnik booze-down where a fake beard is sported and I'm not speaking about Kay Thompson, but Monsieur Astaire, from Tallahassee. I guess trying to pass themselves off as trailer-bait, white trash must've been humorous and entertaining back then, but I honestly couldn't wait for the number to end as Audrey disappears for the length of a bible.

In the end, your brain doesn't want to translate the real message of the film as it's about a girl who gets caught up in the New York Fashion Industry, looses her moral center, gives up on the idolized love of her life, and then violently beats her lover over the head with a vase to pursue her May-December relationship. I think Audrey was 27 during filming, and Fred was 58. I guess. Sigh ... I guess it aint all that bad. Maybe that was why they gave her the last name of `Stockton'.
July 2, 2008

Not Worth Buying

I wish I'd rented this movie instead of buying it. I was looking forward to watching a beautiful love story unfold between Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. Yes, there's a huge age difference between the two in this film but the romance between them was not totally unbelievable. It just wasn't very inspiring. And the entire movie wasn't very interesting or fun to watch.

June 25, 2008

Amazing performances, entertaining film.

I'd be lying if I suggested that I liked musicals. I've always found them a little embarrassing. Two people start making a connection or the tension heightens in a scene and the payoff? Someone breaks into song. Generally, that's not my idea of entertainment.

But, Audrey Hepburn was so interesting to watch. She truly was a captivating person and really took over a role. In Funny Face, it was impossible to take my eyes off of her. I'm not talking about her beauty, though she was a beautiful woman. I'm talking about her entire persona, that charm, grace and fun she oozed on-screen. Anything with Audrey in it is worth seeing, musical or not.

Fred Astaire, a very capable actor, was an amazing dancer. It is a joy to watch him dance -- and I'm no huge fan of dancing, either -- in Funny Face. It's almost mind boggling that he was so athletic and graceful and skilled at almost 60 years old. Yes, he was 58 when Funny Face was made, but he really tore it up, dancing like a man 20 years his junior.

Overall, the movie's cute and fun. Check it out if you're in the mood for Audrey, Fred or a good musical. May 19, 2008

Worth it for the clothes alone!

Hepburn, Astaire, Paris, Gershwin - what more do you want? Add in stunning clothes and visuals, not to mention the amazing Kay Thompson, and you have two hours of blissful, escapist fun. Indulge yourself! May 2, 2008

so much fun!

I think some reviewers missed that this film is a playful and satirical take on 50's high fashion, American tourists, Parisian clichés, folk singers, beatniks and (pseudo)intellectuals. There are a lot of clues early on but the biggest one is when Kay Thompson's character is told everyone is wearing pink (as she has instructed) - why isn't she? Her reply: "I wouldn't be caught dead!" And then there's Dovima as Marion, playing up her Queens accent against her exotic model persona - she is funny and perfect! Every time I watch this film, I catch something I previously missed: the twelve little girls in two straight lines at the church, how the final scene becomes nothing less than an impressionist painting, Richard Avedon's hand and eye throughout (the opening titles turn out to be the Quality Magazine covers on the walls.) Quirky things about Kay Thompson's jewelry and shoes throughout. The clothes! The music! It is so correct in its details and yet so over the top as a whole - fun!

I agree that Astaire was nearly too old for the part but he's Fred Astaire - who cares? Audrey Hepburn was one of the last great Hollywood glamour-pusses and was paired with a number of aging stars, for instance Bogart in Sabrina and Cary Grant in Charade. Rex Harrison? Gary Cooper? Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday was a pretty close match, but she seldom had an age appropriate leading man. Maybe part of the problem is that she was just so lovely, she never really seemed to age at all.

Bottom line: this is a film to lift the spirits.
March 12, 2008

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