Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Written by Peter McGinn on February 7, 2021

I don’t know how I went this long without watching this movie, but I recently viewed it for the first time. It is fairly entertaining for the most part. Audrey Hepburn is magnetic and Patricia Neal just as good. I thought George Peppard could have injected more energy or emotion into his role. The rest of the cast is solid, especially the cat.

The plot seems rather daring for the time, though they are careful about talking around mature themes. I thought Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese character was in terrible taste, and apparently director Blake Edwards wished he could cast it over again. It wasn’t Rooney’s fault; it was a thankless role and comes across as racist with our modern sensibilities.

So I wasn’t dazzled by the story, but I found the final scene with the cat redeemed some of the flaws I noticed along the way.