Review of Funny Face (1932) by Tim H — 07 May 2008

I am turning into a big girl. I can't even pretend I'm not. Four stars for Funny Face? What happened to Re-Animator Tim? No idea. But Lorelai Gilmore gives this movie her nod of approval, so who am I to say no to that. Plus, it's another movie off the 501!

I can't stress this enough. This is a really girly movie. There's little to appeal to guys in this one. Imagine Audrey Hepburn doing The Devil Wears Prada. Yeah. That's not the worst of it. The first song is all about how pink is the color to wear this year. There's a pink dance where painters cover everything with pink. There's no justifying my masculinity with this one. But it's so good. I mean, I love both Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn independently, but putting them together? Sheer gold! I don't buy the romantic attachment between the two of them, but that's part of the fantasy aspect of musicals. This one asks you to stretch your imagination a bit too far at times, but if you are really looking for just an uplifting musical comedy, this is the one for you.

Also, (not unlike An Affair to Remember) the location does a lot for the movie. The last musical I watched before this one was An American in Paris and that (obviously) was set in Paris as well. There's nothign that I can say about Paris that hasn't been said a thousand times before, but I will say that it's not the worst idea to set a movie here. Every shot is perfect and you ahve to appreciate the "exploring Paris" dance. Yes, it's completely shamelsss, but if you are going to have such a great location, I don't blame you for exploiting the hell out of the entire city.

Also, there's those Gap ads which are now considered blasphemous. I mean, putting "Back in Black" over something far classier is just a cheap movie., Yes, I get the fact that you were selling thin black pants, but that was lame as hell. Which is funny, because I really like the clip of Audrey doing her thing.