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Funny Lady

Funny Lady

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $22.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The numbers make it worth buying
Review: Had colombia been smart and released a soundtrack CD that had the same numbers that appeared in the actual movie, than buying the video of this subpar sequel would be unnescesary. Unfortunately, because teh CD soundtrack is so unfaithful its nescesary to buy the video to hear Streisand in, I think, the strongest voice of her career, if you like the Streisand singing thats loud, powerful, emotional with notes so long you wonder why isnt her face turning blue(like I and many people do) , than you should buy this video, otherwise dont waste your time. If you want a good movie, check out Funny Girl

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Put on your ear-buffers
Review: Hated the movie, but the soundtrack will take you into some of the pitches of music only Streisand could pull off so well."Am I Blue" is a vocal masterpiece, one of my favorite on the album that is homogenous w/ "Blind Date". Hey, we've all been there and this recording is filled with upbeat songs on the woes of love, in classic Broadway style. I must've listened to this one a thousand or so times when it first came out. Saw the movie once and couldn't get through it a second time. James Caan and Barbra seemed mismatched on screen to carry on the legacy of Funny Girl and the story line seemed too modern to give Fanny Brice's vaudeville presence any realism on screen. But, again, Barbra's vocal talent along with others undeniably makes the soundtrack a harmonious pleaser with a flair all it's own. While some of the tracks will leave you dancing and singing along, despite the serious edge of others such as "More than You Know" makes for this album's mix that is worth the purchase.Not for first-time listeners who missed Funny Girl. Despite the movie not reaching the same acclaim as Funny Girl, to fully grasp the sequel's more early vaudevelle's soulful songs, the movie, Funny Lady was worth a one-time watch as a sequel to Funny Girl. If you are considering this under-rated soundtrack as a first-time purchase, I recommend seeing both movies first and reaching your own conclusions on the soundtracks merits, from this legendary songtress.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty darn good. . .if you haven't seen Funny Girl
Review: I actually saw this movie before I saw Funny Girl, so I must say that, standing alone, it's a pretty good movie. James Caan is quite charming as the producer and fan of Fanny Bryce looking to get rich. They're sparring relationship, and the resulting romance, is charming, in a kind of "Two For The Road" or Sam and Diane kinda way.

Compared to Funny Girl, this movie, of course, doesn't stand up. There is no very little Omar Shariff, and the adult Fanny is harder, less charming that the Funny Girl Fanny. However, Barbra performance is still riveting, and, most importantly, still funny.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Rancid, except for the "Great Day" number
Review: I attended the Filmex L.A. premiere of this alleged musical in the spring of 1975. At the time, it was highly anticipated and did make good money for Columbia Pictures. Even the stars in attendance that night like Henry (Fonzi) Winkler, Roddy McDowall and Rosalind Russell, seemed bored by it.

And no wonder. The character of Fanny Brice in this film is completely different that she was in Funny Girl. The story is dull and goes nowhere. Fanny has become a hardened woman and not a very nice one. James Caan is poorly cast. as Billy Rose, who tries to turn a professional relationship into a personal one. The whole thing is for her fans only. A few of the songs are nice and the musical numbers work well. The musical number "Great Day" is stunningly well done. It is a shame the rest of the film didn't meet this level.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Funny, Lady
Review: I hadn't seen this movie since its release nearly 30 years ago, and I thought I might actually enjoy it more now on DVD than I did then. Wrong.

The movie fails on so many levels.

First, what works: the score and Streisand's singing. That's about it.

Vastly overrated director Herbert Ross saps the energy from every scene. The dramatic scenes are lifeless and artificial. Streisand squeezes what laughs she can by punching up her lines, but it's a wasted effort.

Not a single musical number works, and the Great Day scene, in particular, is an embarrassment. It's the latter number that makes you realize how bad the movie is. The song actually works better WITHOUT the visual.

The script is absolutely awful. The whole idea behind fictionalizing a biography is to improve on the life story. What excuse is there for making it all a cliche?

The DVD picture quality is very fine, for what it's worth, although there are no extras to speak of.

Bottom line: Buy the CD (Streisand at her peak singing great Kander and Ebb songs), and forget the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: From Funny Girl to Funny Lady
Review: I really enjoyed this format for the film. The aspect that disappoints is that there is no new material to include. I know for a fact that they had some deleted scenes, a "making of" trailer that played on HBO years ago in the 70's, and numerous other goodies to be included. The features that are presented are luke warm, at best. The film itself and the quality of the DVD is terrific. It's great to get this stuff on DVD format and not worry about preservation with video tape. If you enjoy cinematography, then watch the "How Lucky Can You Get" number a few times. The camera starts out wide, pulls in, draws back, and only has four cuts within the piece, it's absolutely brilliant for a musical number.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Barbra's best works!
Review: I saw the movie when it came out in "75" and was totally impressed! until may "98" the soundtrack was unavailable so i recorded from record to cassette. I bought the movie on video and recently watched it and again i always reach to play it again and again. I'm waiting to see if barbra will do something similar because she always was at her best when combining music and comedy. Barbra you're the best!

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Funny Lady
Review: I think this film is a really disappointing sequel primarily because the producers decided to change Fanny Brice's character almost entirely. For instance, she seems to have a truck driver's vocabulary and is so bitter after her divorce from Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif) that she believes every man is out to use her. We don't see much character development here nor is the script very good at telling us why Brice is still pining away after Arnstein. One would think that she finally would get over this man. And the situations dramatized in the movie between Brice and Billy Rose (her third husband by all accounts) is devoid of care or thought. Columbia obviously didn't pay attention to the reasons why the first film was such a hit. Audiences loved "Funny Girl" because Fanny Brice was so warm, human, and sexy. She also had dignity and class. Unfortunately, though, all of that is missing in this second installment. We are left in the dark as to why Brice and Rose get together in the first place nor do we understand their constant bickering. Even more offensive are some of the musical numbers like "Great Day" and "Let's Hear it for Me" which are totally out of line in terms of the kind of material Fanny Brice did. I am sure she would split her sides laughing if she saw the type of numbers the film makers concocted for her. I always felt that if Columbia were interested in doing this film, they should have done it right! Surely, there were excellent biographies on Brice that would have assisted the screenwriters in presenting this very complex woman. I feel that this film should not have been produced at all (much as "The Godfather, Part III") because of its lack of drama and the largely terrible musical numbers that don't grow out of the character but are used as a crutch so that Columbia or Arista could sell records. All in all, this movie is badly done and that is a shame because I simply love the first one even with all of its flaws and biographical inaccuracies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I liked it. . .but I haven't seen Funny Girl
Review: James Caan and Barbara Streisand are awesome together

I accidentally watched this movie thinking it was Funny Girl, and had I watched it without seeing Funny Girl I may not have liked it so much. But I won't fret on that, because I really did like this picture. It's a lovely romantic story, but don't expect the typical by meets girl formula. Instead you get more of a "Two For The Road" antagonistic romance, or perhaps if you're a TV fan, Sam and Diane. Buy this if you want to hear great music (I'm buying the soundtrack immediately) and see Barbra's awesome acting chops (her character, Fanny Bryce is the kinda hard-nosed girl who says everything you'd want to say). I think it's an absolute must-see.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not THAT Bad
Review: Maybe it's because it was the first Barbra Streisand movie I ever saw and didn't have its predecessor to compare it to, but I don't think "Funny Lady" is as bad as many say. True, this movie was made around the time Streisand began to lose her sense of humor, and it shows in her performance. The story is also less developed than the one in "Funny Girl." Still, Streisand's star power and the spectacular musical numbers manage to hold this flawed sequel together. With a filmography that includes "A Star is Born" and "The Main Event," Streisand fans can certainly do worse than "Funny Lady."


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