Dear Internet,
I am
sure you have been wondering something to yourself for some time now. You probably have been wondering, "When
is BeepBoop going to review a musical that features Barbra Streisand?" You have, have you not? No?
You mean to say that based upon the type of media that I have been
reviewing that it would be more likely for me to watch a television series that
features samurai American football players in outer space than a dramatic
musical centered on the danger of the glitz and glamour of the theater
lifestyle? Intriguing show pitches
aside, Internet, I feel that you do not know me by now. I am a multi faceted individual who branches
into many types of media and genres, except maybe Real Time Strategy
games. I cannot manage an army to save
my peasants.
"Funny
Girl" is the tale of Fanny Brice, a young Jewish woman who dreams of
getting into show business any way she can, even if she has not the talent for whatever
they are exactly looking for. She is
headstrong and stubborn, but mostly funny.
She is not a barrel of laughs kind of funny but more "one of a
kind" funny. Eventually, Fanny
makes it to the big time on Broadway and along the way meets Nick Arnstein, a
suave gambler. They hit it off, get
married, get a kid, get a mansion, lose the mansion, get an apartment, lose
each other, and lose their marriage. No
big surprise when the beginning of the movie showcases a very different Fanny,
one who has leagues more reserve in her personality than the one the audience
follows through the long flashback. The
movie, by featuring the more subdued Fanny from the beginning hinted that
something occurred to make her such.
When Nick shows up, it is the obvious guess.
What
occurs for the length of the film is a great tragic love story that does well
to bring a tear to any number of people's eyes.
Fanny halls helplessly in love and cannot see Nick for what he truly
is. It is a story told time and time
again. It is a cautionary tale, but all tragedy
stories are cautionary tales. So, what
makes "Funny Girl" worth watching?
There is the cast ensemble for one thing. Barbra Streisand is in her film debut
alongside Omar Sharif, who is always debonair.
There are the great musical numbers that you might be humming after the movie
ends. The glitz and glamor are there
for visuals. But all of this only adds
up to the film being an entertaining piece.
Any movie can be entertaining, but only a few have something worth
saying.
"Funny
Girl" is a loss of innocence on the level that Fanny is wooed and falls
head over heels for Nick and that she learns about the different aspects of the
entertainment business that are less than majestic. In each of these two, she stands firm either
because of her personality or despite it.
With the case of Nick, Fanny constantly is the timid little girl. She believes he can do no wrong. She feels inferior to him for a majority of
the film. She always is saying that she
is not beautiful. In short she has an
inferiority complex. Perhaps, this is
what allowed her to fall in love with Nick.
He gave her attention when others had not, and added some excitement to
her life, but that all comes across as very shallow if I put it like that. If it was anyone else that had paid her
attention, would she have fallen in love with them? Maybe, but Nick is more than just the random
ma on the street. He was the embodiment
of high living for her when she just starting on the stage. With his fluffy shirts, high etiquette mannerisms,
and fancy talk, Nick was what Fanny wanted for herself but at the same time too
timid to admit to it. Eventually, there
is a moment in the film where she chooses him over the job she had been working
and goes to meet him unexpectedly. She
gets over that timidity but at the cost of placing her desires of the stage,
also with her desire to be married, onto Nick.
Nick accepts these feelings and the two get married, just not for the
right reasons.
The
other aspect that seems to clash with her personality is her ego with regards
to the stage. When she auditions for a
job at the beginning of the film, Fanny cannot stop talking about how much
talent she has. There is even a song dedicated
just to her telling about how many different talents and abilities she has. It is filled with pride and ego but comes
across as haughty and comical because of her rather silly personality. Despite that, it presents her as being
headstrong and having a great deal of self respect. However, when she finally gets to Hollywood,
she is unwilling to sing a line that goes "I am the beautiful reflection
of my love's affection" because it would be too embarrassing to say. This small bit shows that not only is she
proud enough, or foolish enough, to question the decision of the director in
such a forward manner but that she never feels beautiful enough to be willing
to admit it. Even if she does not have
enough self confidence to feel beautiful, she would obviously be willing to
sing the line for the sake of reaching that star status that she had been
aiming for. The scene comes across as
contradicting her nature, but that might just be what complicates her character
and makes her more realistic.
"Funny
Girl" is a good movie but a bad romance.
It is a good drama but a bad way to view love. There is also the fact that when Fanny and
Nick have a child, the child nearly drops off the face of the Earth. The daughter makes two to three scene appearances
and barely takes any hold of the narrative.
The child has next to no plot point other than being an excuse to recall
an earlier scene and give a reason to re-sing a song. Other than that, the film delivers an
enjoyable experience.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Next will be "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"
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