This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Okay sequel to the wonderful Funny Girl is missing several key ingredients that hold it back from the level of the first film. The most important would seem to be director William Wyler, who kept the first film moving even at an extended length this one plods here and there. The supporting characters here aren't as enjoyable or fleshed out as in the first, where is Kay Medford's wonderful mother? Most of the music is excellent, the problem with most is the staging. We only get snippets of many of them like "More Than You Know" and "Am I Blue" and several of the ones we do get full versions of are muddled, the worst is "It's Gonna Be a Great Day". Barbra gives a great rendition of the song but it's drowned mostly in long shots and the sound of the shuffling feet of the surrounding dancers. "Let's Hear It For Me" is a blatant ripoff of "Don't Rain on My Parade". There is a haunting version of "If I Love Again" though. Caan is alright as Billy Rose but he and Babs share little chemistry and he mostly shouts his part hardly making the most romantic leading man. As for Streisand, who made this under duress from a contract obligation, she is of course loaded with talent but seems brittle and haughty, two things Fanny Brice never was. The production design is excellent and some of the costumes are eye popping, the feathered dress in itself is amazing, but they are dressing up an average affair. Not a waste of time just don't go into it expecting the high quality of the first film.

Watching "Funny Lady" always makes me laugh. Not because it's particularly humorous (the only scene I think that works for humor is Streisand's hotel room shout-fest that follows Billy's disastrous opening night), but because each time I see it I am reminded of the one-sentence review a friend gave it back when it opened in 1975: "Why did they call it 'Funny Lady'? They should have called it 'Mean Barbra'!" Indeed, Streisand seems to be in a constant state of pique throughout most of the film's 2+ hours. (It's well known that she didn't want to do it and had to be sued to take on the job.) Fanny Brice has indeed grown up, and in place of the ambitious but lovable "Funny Girl" from the original, we have a scowling, foul-mouthed, perpetually angry and upset harridan in anachronistically overdone gowns."Funny Lady" exists because "Funny Girl" was a success. There is really nothing going on in Fanny's adult life that warrants the mammoth film built around it. She has no emotional mountains to climb (unless you count the need of a Nicky Arnstein detox) and Billy Rose is not the love of her life, so what do we have? We have the Barbra Streisand show. A musical and costume fix for Streisand junkies, but not much of a movie.I like Streisand a lot, but here her face looks hard and mad all the time and she seems to be striking one pose after another in her extravagant costumes that bear that unmistakable Bob Mackie stamp that recalls the look of every 70s Vegas revue. It's kind of entertaining to see such an abrasive Fanny Brice, but scene after scene of her being bossy and telling musicians and producers how to do their job, you kind of lose the feeling this is Brice you're watching. It's Barbra.All that being said, the movie is somehow so light and inconsequential that it is rather watchable. It requires absolutely no brain work on your part and just asks you to sit back and admire Barbra for a couple of hours. Which, even in her caustic mode, is pretty easy to do.James Caan is pretty good but miscast as the teeny-tiny Billie Rose, and poor Omar Sharif is hung out to dry as Fanny's punctured romance, Nick Arnstein. They really don't give him much to do.So, if you like your Streisand hard edged, singing up a storm, decked out like a Christmas tree, lovingly photographed and serving up ample glimpses of bosom and behind, perhaps "Funny Lady" is for you. If you're looking for a really good movie, better rent "Funny Girl."

Barbra Streisand reprised her Oscar-winning role of Fanny Brice in 1975's FUNNY LADY, a big splashy musical that centers around Fanny at the height of her stardom and her stormy relationship with second husband, Billy Rose (James Caan). Much has been written about how unnecessary this sequel was and how it wasn't very factual regarding Fanny and Billy's marriage. First of all, Hollywood has always had sequel-itis. Any movie that makes a decent profit at the box office is going to have a sequel sooner or later. Second, as far as accuracy is concerned, does anyone really think FUNNY GIRL stuck to the facts? FUNNY GIRL was about as close to a factual biography of Fanny Brice as a Harlequin romance novel, but people loved it and Barbra won an Oscar. For what it is, FUNNY LADY is a very entertaining movie with a charismatic starring performance by Streisand as an older, wiser, and more savvy Fanny who is definitely in charge of her own life now...that is, until Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif, in a gratuitous cameo)briefly re-enters her life. The film really focuses on Fanny's relationship with Rose, antagonistic at first but it does grow into a relationship based on mutual respect and affection, but not love or passion, which Fanny had with Nick. I love the scene where Billy proposes to Fanny because it's more like a business merger than a marriage proposal. These people are clearly not in love with each other but they are both lonely and need each other so they agree to a marriage they don't really want. The musical numbers, for the most part, are well-staged if not terribly original. There's a definite "been there done that" feel to some of the numbers. Fanny on stage in an empty theater belting out "How Lucky Can You Get?" reminded me of Fanny on stage in an empty theater belting out "I'm the Greatest Star." And many comparisons have been made to "Let's Hear it from Me" to "Don't Rain on my Parade", except that Fanny takes off in a plane instead of chasing a tugboat. Barbara shines in the "Big Day" production number and her take on two lovely ballads "Isn't this Better?" and "If I Love Again" is memorable. The score effectively combines songs from Fanny's era as well as new songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb (CABARET). Cann is charming as Billy Rose and Sharif has aged surprisingly well. Kudos also to Ben Vereen for his one-show-stopping number, "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie". Not historically accurate or terribly original, but FUNNY LADY is an entertaining musical with Barbra in top form and her fans will not be disappointed.

This musical is just brutal. After the sensational soaring of FUNNY GIRL this bludgeoning sequel is what CARRY ON CLEO is to CLEOPATRA. Honestly, I thought Barbra was channeling Phil Silvers in TOP BANANA against James Caan still in Sonny Corleone mode. Or commode perhaps. The production values and the color is good but Barbra yakketyyakking at Caan's bemused head for 140 minutes just left me punch drunk. Ben Vereen leaping about and Roddy being wistful was sort of OK and some of the dance numbers were enjoyable in a cardboard way. I would actually like the see the reportedly cut scenes, especially James Caan singing "Does your chewing gum get stale on the bedpost overnight" (true) ...apparently he is playing it on a typewriter at the time, and whatever else they decided was 'not good enough' as opposed to what was already there. This even has a imitation 'Don't Rain On My Parade' number with planes trains and automobiles instead of a tug. Something this lady might have actually needed. Brutal. Clobbering. Thank God we weren't bulldozed with FUNNY GRANNY, but I guess there is still time.