Romancefest 18: Funny Girl

FUNNY GIRL is my second Barbra Streisand movie of the month and I have to admit -- I can see why she has such rabid fans. I mean, she's amazing. Right?

Look, she belts out these songs like she really means them, like the world's going to end if she doesn't get the point of the lyrics across, using not only her voice but her face and her whole body to slam the point home.

As if that's not enough, she's funny.

It feels kind of dumb and obvious to say this stuff. I mean, I've lived my entire life with Streisand as a mega-star. Still, she's not the kind of artist I'd be exposed to unless I go out of my way to educate myself, which I guess is part of the fun of setting up arbitrary goals like my quest to watch 28 romantic films in 28 days.

FUNNY GIRL tells the true (but heavily fictionalized) story of Fanny Brice, who rose to stardom as a headliner in the Ziegfeld follies during the early part of the first half of the 20th century. As played by Streisand, a lot of attention is paid to the fact that Brice was not a traditional beauty, but made her way in the entertainment industry anyway, partially thanks to her gifts as a comedian and singer but also thanks to her determination and innovative approach to her medium.

The romance in the film comes from the relationship between Brice and professional gambler Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif). To be honest, the romance is the weaker part of the film. I was more interested in Brice's rise to stardom, and although I've admired Sharif in other flicks, including one of my favorites, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, he's kind of wasted here as an uninteresting love interest. Still, it is touching how Brice approaches the relationship warily, never quite buying that a worldly gentleman like Arnstein would be interested in an unconventional girl, and it is fun to watch Brice open up as she becomes more sure of herself.

It's funny, again, watching this movie, I thought about context -- there are images, lines, songs, that are so famous, most people know them completely out of context. One of those things is that "People who need people" song. Heard on its own, it seems schmaltzy. Seen in this movie, as Streisand sings it, insecurely attempting to open up to Sharif, it works beautifully.

I feel like a broken record when I say this, but the film suffers from being about a half hour too long. It seems like the more movies I watch, the more I think everything should be about a half hour shorter. It doesn't matter if a movie is 2 hours and 30 minutes, like this one, or just 2 hours, somehow they all seem like they could be cut by about a half hour. Well, maybe not all. I mean, I watched RAGING BULL tonight and ALIEN last night, and it would suck if those flicks got cut by 30 minutes.

But FUNNY GIRL? It could be tightened up here and there. First, cut every second Streisand isn't on screen. There aren't many of them, but the ones that exist suck. Then, cut half of every scene where she doesn't sing.