Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961, NR)

Right after Platoon, I watched Breakfast At Tiffany's (like I said, wide and varied movie tastes), and maybe you've heard of this one as well.  Apparently I saw the first minute of the movie before, but was fooled into thinking it was the end.  The credits were rolling and Audrey Hepburn's character was eating a bear claw (or some other kind of breakfast pastry) in front of Tiffany and Co.  Most movies these days wait until well into the movie and often the end before the purposed of the title comes to fruition (unless it's obvious like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc) and the credits... well, yeah.  Plus the scene had the feel of the end of a movie.  It didn't seem to be establishing a setting (like in Midnight In Paris) and it looked like she was relaxing and winding down after whatever course of events the film is about.  Plus she was getting out of a cab in the pre-dawn hours, again with a winding-down feel.  So when I walked through the family room years ago, I had assumed I'd missed the movie and walked away.  See, if I walk into a room and a movie is starting, there's a very strong possibility I'll stick around for the whole thing even if it's not normally to my taste.  Kind of a convenience factor thing.  That's how my sister got me to watch a Gilmore Girls marathon with her one time (though I must admit there was some good witticism in that show).  I tend to keep my brain on whent I watch movies and notice things that are blatantly unrealistic, though I try to keep in mind when suspension of disbelief or just-go-with-it mentality is required.  In this opeining scene she's wearing black full-length gloves when she reaches into her donut bag and I couldn't help but think there's no way someone dressed up like that wouldn't at least take off the gloves first (I didn't get the impression that this was for humor's sake, though much of the movie did have a lighthearted and slightly comedic feel to it).  The movie was listed as a comedy, and I suppose it was in several ways, but I think it's more of just a movie movie: elements of drama, elements of comedy, but neither foot far enough into its respective genre to call it a dramedy nor should your mood for either genre on its own lead you to this film.  This was another movie that I'd added to my queue as "homework" and it felt a little more like it this time.

It turns out the film is bases on a book by Truman Capote (the main character in the biopic Capote, starring Phillip Seymore Hoffman) which I have not read, but the general mood/feel of the conversation scenes doesn't make me doubt it.  The movie had that cool 50's/60's sense of style that made me want to put on a fedora and make a martini while watching the movie (it wouldn't be the first time I've done that...), but for me that was about the only reason to watch the movie other than to understand any pop-culture references to it.  I now know that Holly Golightly is the name of Hepburn's character in the movie and not just a request for a December-born girl to tiptoe.  As soon as Holly finished her donut and left the store window she exhibits several behaviors that reveal her to be a character that is the center of her own universe and seldom considers others.  I imagine her particular actions were intended to make her look fun-loving and idiosyncratic, but it just made me despise the main character (or one of the two anyway; for me the male lead became the main character simply because I could find some empathy for him).  At other times she just went along with things and I found myself thinking "nobody is that stupid...".  Also Mickey Rooney was made-up as the upstairs neighbor Mr. Yunioshi and lampooned a clumsy slapstick Asian man, an act which I found more than a little off-putting.  While Yunioshi had several appearances throughout the film, his most brutal exhibition was in his first (and to a lesser extent second) appearance, so I think if I were to view the film a second time, I would start about 10 minutes in and have a much better time for it.  Maybe then I would not have been rooting against her and feeling vindictively justified when things don't go Holly's way.

The premise of the movie is that single girl Holly Golightly wants to have money.  But she doesn't want to work for it.  She doesn't even want to steal it (too much work, I imagine).  She just wants to marry a rich guy.  To her credit (?) she's not concerned with a man's looks, just his ability to provide for her and stay out of her way when she's on a flight of fancy.  Paul Varjak (played by George Peppard, who I am not otherwise familiar with) is a writer who had one successful book several years ago but has a bit of trouble getting his next one onto paper.  Paul moves into Holly's building and handles her idiosyncrasies well in stride and they get along quite well.  As you might imagine by the fact that this is a movie over 10 years old and that it has both a male and a female lead, romantic tension builds.  I liked Paul's character overall except when he said things that remind us how much this was in a different time ("you belong to me").

Anyway, I think Breakfast At Tiffany's would be a fine movie to have playing in the background at a cocktail party or something because it demonstrates that level of classy cool, and if you've been meaning to watch it, you've got up though this Sunday, 9/30/12  to stream it, or else rent it (though maybe it'll come back to streaming soon after). [Update 10/1/12: it's back.]  Don't get me wrong, most of the film is just fine and I had a decent time watching it, I was just put off by the first few minutes.  I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it a second time, but again I say that if I did I would start a few minutes in and be OK.  I presume this film predates the MPAA rating system, hence the NR (not rated), but I would probably stick it with a PG only because of slightly adult suggestive scenes (though very young children would not know them as such) nor would a young child find any interest in the movie.