Review of Roman Holiday (1953) by David L — 14 May 2010
The trick is that you don't know how it will end...and being a romantic comedy with a cute but basic premise, that tamed my cynical demons long enough to take in the sights of Rome and fall momentarily in love.
Crystal delicate features and gemstone happy eyes strike me first about Hepburn, and here she gives a genuine and breezy performance, at ease on film and alert in character.
Peck walks talks and looks dignified, incorruptable, a breathing statue. Perfect for a con man, politician or actor, I know, same difference. Fun to watch him in ethical quandaries, flirt, fall in love... He sets the light hearted slapstick in a sort of stone, gives it a contradictory weight that keeps it believable, and memorable.
It moves on Roman time, but when you're being wooed sometimes it's best to leave your watch behind. It ends how it ends, and feels like it could not have been different and stayed true. Peck comes to realize that doing the right thing is its own reward, and the story does the same and the result is a monument to writer's instinct. Peck's one last grateful look back at an almost empty hall is full of what might have been, the forever nostalgia of a path not embarked.
This review of Roman Holiday (1953) was written by David L on 14 May 2010.
Roman Holiday has generally received very positive reviews.
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