Breakfast at Tiffany's Reviews

"Breakfast At Tiffany's", from Truman Capote's acerbic novella, is so lushly produced and plushly designed it seems to take place in a New York City dream-world. Audrey Hepburn plays party-girl Holly Golightly with flaky flair, yet she never has to force herself to be a groovy extrovert--she encompasses all of Holly's faults and dizzy highs with just one of the deep little laughs that seem to well up from her chest. I didn't mind Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi (I forgot it was him) and since the movie's edge softens a bit as the film goes on, it needs Yunioshi for some of that low-down comedy inherent in the film's first hour. George Peppard as neighbor Paul is perhaps too smooth and a ready-match for Holly (he only bristles a bit early on), but Peppard as an actor is suitable for Hepburn, he allows her room to sparkle while keeping the film grounded. His frequent bemused looks are charming, and I thought his scenes with Patricia Neal were very good (the filmmakers are a little tough on Neal: she's made to seem decadent and lascivious, and when Peppard calls her on it, I'm not sure if we're supposed to feel sympathy for her, though I did). The opening moments with Hepburn standing in front of Tiffany & Co. are as miraculous as any scene from any movie of this era, and the rest of the film effortlessly emulates that early magic.

After seeing her in My Fair Lady, I wanted to see more of Audrey Hepburn's work, and Breakfast at Tiffany's was the film that almost everyone I spoke to about her recommended. After seeing it for myself, I found it delightful, it does have its problems but a lot compensated. One is that it is really nice to look at. The cinematography and settings are really elegant, and Audrey's black dress makes her look amazing and svelte. Henry Mancini's score is also superb, full of sweet, poignant and jaunty melodies, and I have to say the song Moon River for its sublime melody and meaningful lyrics has to be one of my favourite songs of all time, it is so beautiful and romantic. In terms of performances, while George Peppard looks handsome and acts sweetly, it is Audrey's movie as she pretty much epitomises the film on her own. Her Holly Golightly, like Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley, Vivien Leigh's Scarlet O'Hara, Bette Davis's Margo Channing and Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa, is very iconic as a character, like the film she is elegant, charming and enchanting even with her character flaws we still love her. In terms of comedy highlights, the early party scene really does stand out. However, despite all this, there are problems with the film, Mickey Rooney being at the top of the list. I have nothing against Rooney, but his Japanese landlord felt stereotyped and unnecessary despite one or two mildly amusing moments, and I felt Rooney overacted. While the dialogue is witty in spots, it is also very fluffy and sugary, while the story is uneven in places, and meanders as well. Lastly, the ending felt somewhat tacked on, sweet yes but you couldn't help thinking "I want more" and it could've done with being less unambiguous. Overall, despite the flaws, it is engaging and delightful. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

I know. I know. It was a "different time," but I just can't with the Mickey Rooney character. That being said, I just love the story and I'm honestly embarrassed that it has taken this long to see this all the way through. A must see!

In a bit of expected Hollywood censorship, Truman Capote’s homosexual writer from the novella gets turned into a staunchly heterosexual stud in the film version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Also rather odd, it makes explicit that George Peppard’s writer is a kept man and essentially a prostitute for an older woman, but skirts around Audrey Hepburn’s good-time girl’s hooker roots in the novella. Despite these problems, which also include the cringe-inducing xenophobic caricature that is Mickey Rooney in yellowface, Tiffany’s remains a charming and winsome bauble.

Hepburn stars as Holly Golightly, that self-made and delusional Manhattan hipster with the past that no one can piece together and the kind of issues that could keep most therapists in work for a lifetime. So strange that her image has become so hallowed since her character is just that, an image maintained and crafted by Golightly. When we do discover her past we understand why she escaped into this fantasy world of bright shiny things and meaningless friendships and parties in which she is the perfect hostess and the very image of urban elegance. She comes across as ditzy, even aggressively materialistic and shallow, at first, but by the end we understand and sympathize with her inner pain. She’s a lonely neurotic hiding behind a glossy chic and megawatt charm. If Hepburn hadn’t already won an Oscar for Roman Holiday, she should have won one for this (or The Nun’s Story).

Supporting her are a strong cast, chief amongst them is George Peppard, who is given little to do but stand around and look handsome. He does this well enough, but he comes across as rather stiff most of the time. But since he’s so hunky and knows the roots of Holly’s problems and doesn’t care, he comes across at times like a rock. He’s a solid support system that she needs, despite how much she rebels against her romantic feelings. Patricia Neal has a small but crucial role as Peppard’s older woman/sugarmama. She’s cold and cunning, a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man who she clearly cannot stand. Not that she has any real affection for Peppard. He is just the latest in a long line of boy toys, once she’s done chewing him up and eviscerating him for choosing Holly over her, she’ll move on to a new one. And Buddy Ebsen as the mysterious Texan from Holly’s past, while a very small role, is tender and affection. He’s the lone character who doesn’t repel us at first. He has dignity and great love for Holly, even if she cannot reciprocate. She’s grateful to him, but he’s her past and she cannot/will not go back or revisit it.

Each and every character and situation that I have described is full of jagged edges and complex undertones, but Tiffany’s somehow never gets bogged down in them. It always remains humorous and the wistful score adds more to the fantasy and charm than anything else. Romantic comedies are hard to do, but Tiffany’s is effortless, in spite of the racist grotesquery that is Rooney’s character. It endures because it’s so enjoyable and charming, and is one of the few films which isn’t harpooned by its faults. That and Hepburn is a radiant presence throughout, giving us all of her fashionable glamor and delicate screen presence. She makes a delusional call-girl’s life look like the stuff of feathery dreams.

This is an absolutely fantastic classic romantic comedy. It was a story that is really funny, very romantic and rather dramatic. This is a very beautiful film with a big heart and with a story that does appear like a chick flick but it is a film like Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday. It is one of those classic romantic comedies that will certainly be remembered and a film that young kids could watch. It is one of my top romantic comedies of all time.


Audrey Hepburn's performance was absolutely fantastic as Holly Golightly. She really does looks absolutely gorgeous in the dresses she wears which are probably the main purpose of the character. I believe that Holly Golightly's type of character leads to Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Holly behaves like a real lady with the dresses, hats etc. Her performance was pure entertainment which was really good and funny about it. George Peppard was really good as Paul 'Fred' Varjak because he was that typical charming type of actor who could portray that kind of character. He was a man that Holly couldn't take her eyes off and she needed to sort of dig her claws into him and take him but not in a villainous way.


Blake Edwards directs it like a classic romantic comedy that was made before the 1960s like It Happened One Night and Romany Holiday. Edwards brings after 30 years a film that delivers the classics previous but Breakfast At Tiffany's is a classic nowadays and films like Pretty Woman relive those sorts of films.


This is one of the best films of the 1960s, it is one of the best romantic comedies of all time. Audrey Hepburn's performance was fantastic in this as well as My Fair Lady but her best film is Breakfast At Tiffany's. It is a classic that is like a family film because of the really good characters. It is a classic that will always be remembered.

Call me simple, but when it comes to starting my day right, I prefer breakfast at MikkyDees. Those Egg McMuffins wit' Egg sandwiches, surely, they be nought but the very food of the gods themselves.

Several reasons to see this chicks’-night-in flick:
Audrey Hepburn, who frankly outdid herself (no one, not even Marilyn Monroe could have outdone her performance), she’s so brilliant;
Hepburn’s elegance and chic attitude;
Henry Mancini’s score, more specifically Hepburn’s singing Moon River because it is enchanting;
classic cinematic moments that make you want to see this film over and over.

It’s one of Hollywood’s most delightful romantic dramas.