Review of Funny Face (1932) by James T — 14 May 2008

There's nothing like an old-fashioned MGM musical (okay it came from Paramount, but everyone from MGM moved over to there). They're certainly guilty pleasures that make for pure, fun entertainment to watch. And "Funny Face" is no different from the rest of the whimsical fare that were the musicals of the time. Fred Astaire and especially the adorable Audrey Hepburn are wonderful to see perform. While their relationship is forced and ludicrous, then again what relationship isn't in movie musicals, it's still fun to watch them carouse the streets of Paris together. The cinematography is very eye-catching for its time since it was all filmed out on location, not to mention the eye candy that is the costuming of the famous Edith Head.

However, this movie suffers in plot (I blame it on the era) from what I call the "Grease" syndrome where a young, cute, booksmart, and individualistic girl is uncontrollably taken with a man who is forward with her and the girl is infatuated to where she betrays her old ways of standards and style to be with him. The unconventional becomes conventional, which brought to this movie a certain sadness for me as the two love birds end up together happily ever after in the end (SURPRISE, SURPRISE!). It's a shame too because I was very taken with Hepburn in the beginning more than how she was in the end when she ends up as a fashion floozy.

Still, the music is rousing and bombastic, as any Gershwin composition, and even if the songs aren't memorable, this movie is fun to watch just to see Hepburn being her cute self and in full dancing mode (Yes, this is the movie where that recent GAP ad came from).