Funny Girl is a semi-biographical film following the events of Fanny Brice’s (Barbara Streisand) successful career. Brice is known for being a comedian and entertainer in the early 1900’s, and Funny Girl depicts the unusual journey she took on her way to fame. As her career begins to bud and take shape, her life will change for the better, and her new friend, Nick Arnstein (Omar Shariff), will play a significant role in her life and success.
Director William Wyler and his film Funny Girl had the cards stacked against them in regard to my opinion on the film. Musicals are certainly not my forte, and I often struggle to find value in the genre and the films that are part of that genre. Furthermore, I struggle to appreciate Streisand. I dislike her voice, her (lack of) ability to act--from what I’ve seen--and, not to sound too harsh, but her appearance makes it difficult to focus on other parts of the film. Going in, I was sure that I would struggle to find any part of Funny Girl enjoyable, and, for the most part, I was right.
Now, I understand that Funny Girl takes place in the early 1900’s when music was significantly different than it is today. The lyrics do not often resonate with modern audiences, and I, unfortunately, fall within that unimpressed group. I struggle to appreciate the sentiment behind the songs, and furthermore, I cannot understand how audiences are able to even appreciate the vocals throughout Funny Girl. Streisand in particular is horrifically nasally and frustrating; it becomes even more frustrating when you realize that there are actually people who admire the atrocious noises she makes.
Continuing the critique of Streisand, but taking in a slightly different direction, I am interestingly impressed with her performance as Fanny Brice. She manages to fill the space in the room (and no, that was not a jab at her nose) and becomes the forefront of every scene, even those where she is not the focus. What is incredible is the fact that Funny Girl was Streisand’s first ever role, and she hits the nail on the head and manages to captivate audiences (I’m not entirely sure that I was captivated, but understanding of the fact that her performance was stellar). While she shines on the screen, through some research of my own, I found that Striesand was absolutely miserable to work with. She asked for members of the cast to be replaced, cut co-stars’ screen time and refused to let certain individuals take part in the film. Think about the fact that she, for the first time in her life, was awarded the opportunity to star in a film, and she believed that she had the right to start calling shots and deciding what was best for Funny Girl. Knowing that she acted this way on set makes it difficult for me to fully appreciate the work she put into her performance, and, I believe, it diminishes the performance to some degree.
Having a difficult time appreciating the lead actor, the musical numbers and the comedy makes it nearly impossible to recognize any genius within the story. Funny Girl and the seemingly never ending rocky road to Fanny Brice’s success, is interesting in itself, but the added theatrics, the useless musical numbers strewn throughout the very pedestrian conversations between Brice and anyone that would listen and politics behind Streisand’s rise to fame make the film’s success difficult to grasp. Brice is impressive (assuming most of what made its way into Funny Girl is true), but for most modern audiences, her talents are misunderstood and underappreciated, making Funny Girl all but useless in today’s day and age.
Directed by William Wyler. Written by Isobel Lennart. Starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Shariff, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon, etc.
⭐⭐½/10
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