Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

  I borrowed this one from my neighbor, Kim.  Traded her Burlesque for a couple of days.  It's a classic film, an iconic role for Audrey Hepburn, and has been referenced bajillions of times, to the point where even if you have never seen this movie, like me, you would still recognize bits from it.  

I can't say that I particularly liked the film, but I feel better for having seen it.  It's just not my bag. 

Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a wannabe gold-digger struggling to make it in New York.  She falls about a centimeter shy of outright prostitution and lands squarely in the begging category, relying mostly on the change from when men give her money for powder rooms and cabfare to survive.  Her only steady source of income comes from visiting an imprisoned mobster and giving his lawyer a weekly "weather report".  She lives in a walk-up with her unnamed cat, constantly harassing her landlord (Mickey Rooney, in a stupefyingly racist portrayal of a Japanese man) and throwing wild parties.

Paul Varjak (George "Hannibal from the original A-Team" Peppard) is a struggling writer/kept man who moves in one floor up.  Recognizing each other as twin lost souls, they strike up a friendship.  Then Holly's husband, Doc, shows up.  Doc (Buddy "The Beverly Hillbillies" Ebsen) tells Paul that Holly's real name is Lula Mae and he wants her to come home. 

This is where I started to wonder if Holly was the free-spirited nymph fleeing the stifling strictures of rural life for a blaze of glory in the big city she liked to think she was, or if she was just a pathological liar looking for her next meal ticket.  It really could have gone either way.

Sympathy for the character is maintained, however, mostly due to Hepburn's ability to emote.  Which, I suppose, would make it frustrating for everyone hoping that this would be the catalyst she needs to realize she's in love with Paul.  Even though she keeps calling him "Fred", after her slow brother who joined the Army.  I found that creepy.

Then Holly meets a rich Brazilian.    Surprising no one, she immediately tosses Paul aside in order to latch on to Senor Moneybags, covering her apartment in travel posters and learning Portugese.  On her last night before flying down to meet her hottie, she and Paul go out for dinner to say good-bye.  They come home to find that Mickey Rooney let the cops into her apartment and they both get arrested, surprising everyone.  Remember the mob boss' weather reports?  Yeah, I didn't either til then.

Maybe it's the confidence that comes from having a wardrobe filled with nothing but Givenchy creations, but Holly is unfazed by her indictment and only mildly annoyed that Juan the Brazilian has tastefully rescinded his invitation to tour the pampas.  She dumps the cat out of the car and tells Paul she's going to Brazil anyway.  This is the last straw.  Paul loses his mind and goes all Third Act from Moulin Rouge on her before storming off into the rain.

I was kind of surprised this movie had a happy ending (she chases him down and they find the cat and live happily ever after).  Like I said, it could have gone the other way pretty easily.  Blake Edwards directed, however, and he did so love a happy ending no matter how improbable.

I'll say I liked it, but it's really just for the costumes.