Review of Funny Lady (1975) by Stephen M — 22 Mar 2008

Ok, it's not very good. It certainly isn't a patch on Funny Girl. But it has a particular place in my heart because I was a teenager when it came out and Streisand was the biggest star in America at the time. In fact, her musical theater song HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET was played on the radio all the time and it was a big seller - that just doesn't happen. It's always pop and rock on the charts, not musical theater. And yet she was so beloved and so popular that this show tune penned by Kander and Ebb was on the charts. That's not nothing.

Now, about Funny Lady. I love it. It's got great production values, amazing costumes by Bob Mackie, some very clever dialogue (also some silly dialogue about toothbrushes that only a fine actor could carry off, and no matter what you may think of her, Streisand is a fine actor). The musical numbers are peppy (and HOW LUCKY CAN YOU GET and GREAT DAY are simply glorious). Yet, the movie feels contrived and incomplete. It doesn't have the heart or the simpatico that the original had. It feels false much of the time (especailly when looking at some of Barbra's wigs).

Yet there will be fans like me who love the movie, either because of Barbra or because of nostalgia or because it is glitzy and pretty.

It is not, though, something that I think people will enjoy if they aren't Streisand fans. It is that specific. I think that the only people who will like this picture are Streisand fans - nobody else.

Sometimes, though, not even them.