I enjoyed this film much more than I expected, largely off the backs of the charism of Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. I'm also a sucker for a good caper film and while not completely innovative, it was still cool to see it in action. Given the fact that this is a pretty simple concept, executed near perfectly by director William Wyler, I don't have much to say about this movie.
In addition to his role in Ben-Hur, Hugh Griffith makes a memorable role in the form of an art forger and father to Hepburn. I will say this and this could just be a cultural and/or time period thing: it is obnoxious how many times Hepburn says "Papa" in this movie. If you drink every time she said Papa and nowhere else in the movie, you might die.
I think this is my first Peter O'Toole film oddly enough. Not sure what exactly I expected, I'm not surprised he's considered a legend. His voice alone is legendary. He seems to casually inhabit the carefree, smooth art expert, criminology expert, and whatever else he says he is. I feel like in the wrong hands this role could be harder, but he pulls it off so easily and it doesn't even look like he's trying.
I have two relatively minor complaints about the movie. The first is that it's a little long for the type of movie it is. They could have shed about 20 or 30 minutes without the movie suffering. Secondly, the constant kissing between O'Toole and Hepburn got extremely irritating. We get it. You guys know love each other. But overall, I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this light-hearted fare.
(Also, Audrey Hepburn's outfits kind of stole the show)
3.5/4 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment