Review of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) by Logan M — 29 May 2017

Breakfast At Tiffany's, the movie which teaches us that stepping outside your New York apartment and whistling will cause a taxi to appear in a matter of seconds, is a widely beloved classic. Audrey Hepburn's turn as Holly Golightly is as instantly recognisable now as it was 50+ years ago.

It's odd to say that a film this soft and fluffy was a tough sit for me, but it was. In fact, this was one of the most annoying movies I've ever sat through. It's so tooth-grindingly irksome that it might as well be a follow up to The Rules Of The Game.

Hepburn rambles on and on and on for the majority of the runtime, usually spouting either inane platitudes or materialistic fantasies. Hepburn has an unmistakable charm, but the character she plays is so needy, whiney, self-absorbed, money-grubbing, shallow and irritating that it was never possible for me to make an emotional connection with her.

George Peppard, portraying her love interest, is depicted as a pathetic, servile doormat, who indulges Holly in her sad behaviour, and the romance that's supposed to blossom between them is utterly unconvincing.

And to address arguably the most discussed aspect of the film, Mickey Rooney's role as Mr Yunioshi, a character who wears fake teeth, can't pronounce the letter r, shouts constantly and walks into things in every scene.

Well, he's awful, truly dreadful, and the fact that this was ever considered even remotely acceptable is ridiculous. But for me the most reprehensible thing about his character is that there's literally no reason why he needs to be Japanese in the first place.

He never speaks in his native language, doesn't interact with anyone else of his culture, and we never see him doing anything typically associated with Japan. He's only doing it so we can get a cheap laugh at the expense of another race by exploiting the cheapest and most antiquated stereotypes.

From a purely objective standpoint he's the worst thing in the movie, but from a subjective one, he's overshadowed by the non-existent plot, grating characters, banal dialogue and overall pointlessness.

Overrated is not a strong enough word to describe this one.