Breakfast at Tiffany's

(update of a previous post - original is here)



Data
Title: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Year: 1961
Length: 115 minutes
Director: Blake Edwards
Writer: George Axelrod, based on the novel by Truman Capote
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard
Music: Henry Mancini
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Score and Best Song (“Moon River”); Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Hepburn) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (color)



My reaction
Synopsis: a neurotic girl forces herself into her neighbor’s life
How I saw it: on video a couple times (have on DVD), most recently yesterday
Concept: Bad.
Story: Good.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Indifferent. Why does Mickey Rooney hate Asian people?
Acting: Great. You’ve got a character who’s obnoxious, and a story that only works if every other character (not to mention the audience) loves her; I don’t think anyone other than Audrey Hepburn could have pulled that off.
Music: Great. Speaking of amazing feats of Audrey Hepburn, when she sings “Moon River,” it somehow sounds like a good song. Between that, the piano music over the climax, and the almost postmodern five & dime sequence, I have to love the music in this movie, even though so much of it consists of an incessantly annoying tune.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites). I typically hate romantic comedies, but I love this movie. Not because it does things differently, or because it has some appeal apart from the romantic story, but just because it does what it does (and what a million and a half crappy chick flicks wish they could do) so damn well. It's not humanly possible to watch that last scene and not feel like a complete sap.
Objective Rating: 3.2/4 3.3/4 (Very good).