Funny Girl

I loved the movie Funny Girl. The audience is almost forced to love Barbra Streisand’s character, Fannie Brice, as we watch her go from slum-dom to stardom. It’s impossible to put a label on Fannie, but she somehow finds strength in her contradictions. On the surface she's skinny and plain with a big nose and boney knees, but underneath her unimpressive exterior she has an undeniable power that radiates behind her voice. She is a successful comedian but leads a less than successful life at home. Sometimes it’s unclear which life she prefers. It seems like she starts acting the moment she steps off of the stage. The fans that love her will probably never be able to meet her, while the man she meets and marries may never be able to love her. Her success is both a blessing and a curse.

 

Her melodramatic declarations and comically theatrical gesticulations fabulously juxtapose her mother’s dry humor. I found it interesting how her husband’s addiction to gambling separates them, but also offers possibly the only similarity between them, their talented poker face.

 

Streisand’s opening line, “Hello, gorgeous” is delivered into a backstage prop mirror with a famously thick Brooklyn accent. The frame of the mirror mimics the body of the film, which is essentially a reflection on her past and rise to fame. This was also the first thing that Streisand said after receiving her Oscar for Best Actress.

 

Robert Elbert, reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, said of Streisand, “She has the best timing since Mae West, and is more fun to watch than anyone since the young Katharine Hepburn. She doesn't actually sing a song at all; she acts it. She does things with her hands and face that are simply individual; that's the only way to describe them. They haven't been done before. She sings, and you're really happy you're there.”