Rating: 
Summary: NOBODY RAINED ON HER PARADE
Review: 36 years later, FUNNY GIRL shows why Barbra Streisand has become the legendary singer/actress/director/songwriter she so deserves. Taking on the role that launched her to Broadway stardom, Babs does everything in this movie to prove "she's the greatest star." Sure, there are poses, posterings, a little bit of histrionics, but when she sings these magnificent songs, and bats those delicious eyes, she is gorgeous! Her performance of "My Man" at the end is Oscar worthy; not to mention "I'm the Greatest Star" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." And of course, "People" one of Barbra's signature songs gives goosebumps even today.
Omar Sharif is lushly suave; Kay Medford does a nice turn as Fanny's Mom, and even though Anne Francis was upset with her small role, she's still convincing and lovely.
The comic production numbers, particularly HIS LOVES MAKES ME BEAUTIFUL and the Swan parody are priceless; Barbra can throw one liners off like the greatest of comediennes. I wish the filmmakers would have included the poignant WHO ARE YOU NOW from the Broadway version; I think they opted to write FUNNY GIRL for Oscar consideration, but WHO ARE YOU NOW was a heartbreaker.
Whether you can stand Barbra either professionally or personally, one can't deny this awesome debut performance. She truly is the greatest star of the musical comedy stage and screen!
Rating:
Summary: Best Musical
Review: The ultimate showcase for an actress, Barbra Streisand's highly publicized film debut in FUNNY GIRL met every single expectation and then some. The film was the highest-grossing film of 1968, and it's very easy to see why. The film has many great qualities: It's expertly directed by three-time Academy Award winner William Wyler (the finale of the "Don't Rain On My Parade" number is just as astonishing as the chariot race in Wyler's BEN HUR), the storyline is extremely compelling, Omar Sharif is an incredibly suave and charismatic leading man, the supporting players are perfectly cast (particularly Kay Medford, Lee Allen, and Walter Pidgeon), and the song score (primarily by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill) is first-rate. However, virtually everything that FUNNY GIRL has working for it would be worthless without Barbra Streisand's absolutely phenomenal performance. I honestly cannot think of enough good descriptive adjectives to do justice to her amazing performance in this film. She handles drama, comedy, music numbers, and tearjerking sentiment with equal aplomb, and she does it all better than any actress before or since. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had no choice but to honor her with the Oscar for Best Actress (in an extremely rare tie with academy favorite Katherine Hepburn; only the second tie in Oscar history to date), it is a performance that is nothing less than perfect. About the DVD: Columbia-Tristar has done an excellent job in bringing FUNNY GIRL to DVD. The restoration of the original source elements may have taken nearly three years to complete, but it was time well spent - the picture quality is gorgeous! Sure, there are a few nicks on the print, but the color, sharpness, and virtually everything else is nearly flawless. Quite possibly one of the best vintage transfers yet. The sound is also excellent, and while there are no new features included (only vintage featurettes - I expect we'll see a special edition re-issue in the future) the menu design is fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: She "IS" The Greatest Star
Review: My dad was a movie projectonist when I was growig up and he took me to see Funny Girl when I was in the 4th grade. I saw that movie 5 times that week and a total of 26 times in every movie theater in town. What an impression it made on me as a yougster, that if you believed in yourself there isn't anything that you can't do. Of course it is my favorite movie of all time and one that I watch over and over again as if I had never seen it before. I see something new every viewing. Do you want to see one of the greatest performances of all time, then watch her perform "I'm The Greatest Star" and then watch it again and again, there has never been a debut performance like this one and probably never will again. I have been the BIGGEST Streisand fan since and have followed her through all her movies, saw her twice in concert and have everything she has recorded, albums, tapes, 45's, CD's, foreign releases and hard to find classics, every movie poster, every book written about her and every magazine cover she has been on. This collection started back in 4th grade and now I am 47 years old so you can imagine the collection. Of it all Funny Girl has to be the shining moment . If I could have just a few hours with Ms. Streisand I would thank her and ask hundreds of questions, we are only seperated by 2 degrees of seperation, maybe that day will come! Buy this movie, if you are not a fan, you will be--I PROMISE.
Rating:
Summary: Hello! This Movie is Georgous
Review: What a tour de force!!! Barbra's first movie is AMAZING!!!
I think Babs was born to play Fanny Brice. What a wonderful and
beautiful portrayal of a young woman struggling to try to "fit"
onstage and then "makes it big" Of course Barbra's singing is
just too perfect and her acting is amazing. I think it is her
best movie. Her comedic timing in this movie is so natural that
she should have done standup. Her comedy movies of the 70's
definately showcase her comedic gifts. One sad note, of course,
is Barbra's character "Fanny" just loves Nicky Awnstein too much.
He knows he isn't good for her and lets her go. He really broke
her heart. So, if you want a movie with vintage style from the 20's, Fabulous Singing, Dancing, Wonderful Costumes, and a great
story, then please watch this movie. It is #1 on my list.
Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Can Streisand sing or what?
Review: Barbara Streisand stars as Fanny Brice, the rags-to-riches Zigfield star. Omar Sharif costars as Nicky Arnstein, a professional gambler who woos, marries, and leaves her. Babs is adorable as a gawky kid from the poor side of town who had too much talent and guts to be ignored. The early scenes of Zigfield shows are really cute and funny, and Streisand is, indeed, incredibly talented. Sharif is a 10 on the hunk scale, but never seems very comfortable with the role. When the money runs out, and Nicky is gone, Streisand lets down the brassy personna and has some very tender moments. The songs are all such familiar classics by now you'll want to sing along, but don't sing too loud; Striesand's voice is a thing of beauty and truly a joy forever.
Rating:
Summary: What a great movie!
Review: James Caan and Barbara Streisand are awesome together This is a great movie. I originally saw it because it was on AFI's 100 greatest romances. And it is a great romance, because the movie's character's have the kind of chemistry of people who love each other, but also relentlessly get on each other's nerves (and if you've seen "Two For The Road or are a fan of Sam and Diane, then you know that those are some of the best stories). Don't rent this is you're looking for the typical boy meets girl formula. Rent 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) this is an absolute must-see.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Masterpiece!
Review: I am NOT a Barbara fan at all and i don't think of her as a nice person either but in this film she is magic! I really don't think anybody else could really play the part of Fanny except for her. If you ever see any of Fanny Brice's movies you can see that Babs and her are very much alike to the point of being scary.I am also glad that this film has been restored to it's natural Roadshow quality which is the only reason why i bought it. So i do recommend this DVD highly but if you read my review on "Hello Dolly" you'll notice that i wasn't kind at all. But just like Funny Girl was written for Barbara, Hello Dolly was written for Carol Channing,,,,end of story.
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