It's hard to fault a movie with two gorgeous stars, a fairytale
romance, and the courage to follow through with the bittersweet
ending required to return everyone to reality. So I won't. Fault
it, that is.
Truly one of the best romantic comedies ever made. A marvellous
sense of place--but then many of the best purely romantic films
seem to take place in Italy (Roman Holiday, Summer Time, A Room
with a View).
Audrey is glorious--she only came near this level of perfection
in one other movie (Breakfast at Tiffany's)--and while I'd
quibble over her Oscar worthiness (she robbed Kerr), she was a
delight and this film justifiably launched her to stardom.
Peck is believably cynical; more importantly, he's gorgeous. I
particularly enjoyed Eddie Albert in one of his higher profile
screen appearances; he's always been a better actor than he's
been given credit for.
Two things interest me in looking back on this movie:
1) The problems of living as a public figure may have gotten more
oppressive in recent times, but they certainly aren't new
problems.
2) I don't think anyone is brave enough to make a romantic comedy
where they don't get together at the end anymore.
