669. Funny Face (1957)

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson

Director: Stanley Donen

Running Time: 103 mins

Funny Face is an American film about a young bookshop worker who is recruited by an experienced fashion photographer to travel to Paris for a fashion shoot, however the trip leads to much more…

This is an absolutely adorable film. It’s got a lovely story that really touches you with its very evident heart, while there’s a lot of laughs about to make it even more entertaining. The songs may not have been the most fun, but this film is on the whole hugely pleasant to watch.

Starting with the story, I can accept that it’s not the most watertight, and there are definitely many plot holes. However, because of that incredibly nice atmosphere of the film, these won’t make any difference to your enjoyment, as there’s a brilliant romance story to follow along with.

Effectively, this is a bit of a fluff film, just a nice, pleasant romance story with little in the way of a challenging story, but nonetheless, it certainly delivers as being one of the most entertaining and easy-going films I’ve ever seen.

And it’s not only the pleasant atmosphere that leads to that. There’s a lot of comedy here, and while you could say it’s not the most raucously funny film, I definitely found myself chuckling quite a bit throughout, and even though that means the comedy wasn’t so successful, it still adds significantly to the whole feel of the film.

Also, there’s some fantastic performances. I found Kay Thompson pretty funny to watch, and she had a great on-screen presence as a supporting actress, but it was Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn that were really on top in this film.

The age gap of the romance didn’t bother me one bit, and I found the romance deeply moving and lovely. Fred Astaire was a real voice of reason amidst some of the madness of Audrey Hepburn’s actions, but their chemistry really worked here and helped to make this film so perfectly relaxing and enjoyable to watch, so that’s why it gets a 7.7 from me.