Breakfast At Tiffany’s
I will say this: Audrey Hepburn does a GREAT job at playing a devil-may-care free spirit, and the chemistry between her and George Peppard is pretty damm palpable. That being said, the film meanders TERRIBLY during its first hour, casually introducing supporting characters and situations with no real bearing to the main plot, including an extremely long and boring “party” sequence that shows the viewer just how wild society was in the early 60s. Buddy Ebson comes into the film out of left field, annoys the viewer, and just as quickly exits. The second half is where the film finally picks up steam, most notably with the excursion Hepburn and Peppard go on in NYC on a budget. The man best known for playing the tough guy Hannibal on the A-Team convinced me that he really cared for this delicate but troubled beauty, despite him nearly being a gigolo himself, and that carries things well to their conclusion. As for the others, Patricia Neal is suitably cold and icy as Peppard’s “benefactor”, and the scene where she writes him a check for a “paid vacation” comes off well, Martin Balsam kept me awake for a few scenes as Hepburn’s agent, and then there’s Mickey Rooney as her landlord. Essentially a racist Asian stereotype, Rooney almost redeems the performance with some well-timed slapstick, but ultimately the character comes off as utterly politically incorrect in this day and age. Also, Moon River IS a lovely song, but cueing it up every fifth scene gets tiresome, and I’ve never seen two romantic leads smoke so many cigarettes on-camera during their scenes. However, it’s the romance that carries this thing, and Hepburn’s adorable cat provides the emotional payoff, so it’s not entirely a bad watch…
7/10