Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Funny Lady Blu-ray Movie Review

Somewhere a parade is getting rained on.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 19, 2014

It’s hard to realize there was a time when Barbra Streisand was not a national institution, but, alas, such a time did exist. Streisand had started to make a name for herself in cabaret and on stage, especially in her featured role in Harold Rome’s I Can Get It For Your Wholesale, a middling success where Streisand brought down the house nightly with her rendition of “Miss Marmelstein.” Also featured on some regional television outings like an early (largely) east coast feed of a Mike Wallace interview show, and finally on records courtesy of a contract with Columbia Records that saw her first album come out in early 1963, Streisand was still just one of a crowd of new singers attracting attention, and one who seemed to not be especially well primed to capture the public at large’s attention. That all changed of course in 1964 when Streisand essayed the role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, a musical which (as surprising as it may sound) was not greeted with universal critical acclaim, but which was lauded mostly for its riveting lead performance. Even as late as 1968, when the film version of Funny Girl appeared, Streisand wasn’t quite the phenomenon she would soon become, but the film was an enormous success, Streisand (co-)won the Best Actress Academy Award for her work, and the legend was becoming increasingly ensconced in the American (and ultimately global) mindset. It’s notable that Streisand, for all of her obvious performing talents, was a bit of a casting challenge for traditional Hollywood types, and perhaps for that reason she was shunted into a series of musicals right after Funny Girl, in an effort to capitalize upon her best known attribute—her voice—even as the film musical was beginning to breathe its last breaths (for a little while, anyway). Hello, Dolly!, a film which actually performed okay at the box office but which threatened to (once again) tank 20th Century Fox in the tradition of Cleopatra or (perhaps more appropriately) the Rex Harrison musical version of Doctor Dolittle due to its elephantine budget, was Streisand’s next effort, and her third film, Vincente Minnelli’s film version of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, was a critical and financial disappointment, if not outright flop. Streisand seemed unfazed, matriculating into a series of comedic non-singing roles in films like What's Up, Doc?, so that when she was initially approached to do a musical follow up to Funny Girl, she rejected the notion out of hand, reportedly telling producer Ray Stark (who had married Brice’s daughter Frances) he’d need to sue her to appear in a sequel. (Stark, who had initially balked at hiring Streisand for the stage version of Funny Girl, had perhaps presciently signed the still nascent star for a four picture deal after the success of the stage property. Stark also produced Streisand’s post-Funny Girl outings The Owl and the Pussycat and The Way We Were.)

It was against this contentious background that Funny Lady finally went into production—a now powerful star not especially well pleased to be reprising her most iconic role, feuding with a producer to whom she owed one more film, and (to add insult to injury) a relatively inexperienced (film) director, Herbert Ross, whose only previous credit as the full fledged director of a musical had been the monumental 1969 flop Goodbye, Mr. Chips (the Peter O’Toole and Petula Clark version). Ross had numerous stage credits of course and had done the choreography for Funny Girl, and had gone to direct Streisand in The Owl and the Pussycat, perhaps suggesting Streisand may have had a hand in getting him assigned to this picture (is it mere coincidence that Ross frames James Caan's first scene in the film so that Streisand repeatedly walks in front of the camera, completely blocking Caan from view?). Perhaps most interestingly, given the generally positive reaction to Funny Girl’s score (by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill), a score which presented Streisand with what became her main signature tune, "People," the vaunted Broadway team of Kander and Ebb took over songwriting chores. Kander and Ebb had actually given Streisand one of her earliest signature tunes, “My Coloring Book,” however, but at this point in the mid-1970s were more closely associated with the career of Liza Minnelli than with La Streisand.

Aficionados of the real Fanny Brice can recite chapter and verse about how Funny Girl departed from the actual story to provide both a dramatic arc as well as an opportunity for Streisand to strut her stuff, but the variances from the historical record pale in comparison to the even more fictionalized version of Brice presented in Funny Lady. The film opens in the wake of Brice’s divorce from Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif, reprising his Funny Girl role in what amounts to a "special guest star" role), and soon segues into Brice’s romance and ultimate marriage to blustery showman Billy Rose (James Caan), even as she continues to pine after Nicky, who has already remarried.

Part of the allure of Funny Girl was watching the exploits of a scrappy girl from the wrong side of the tracks make her name in the wild and wooly world of show business. Funny Lady has to make do with the fact that it’s dealing with a Brice who is enormously successful, in her career if not in her love life. And it’s here in that second formulation where the film attempts to wring as much drama as it can out of Brice’s supposed romantic bad luck, giving Streisand a chance to belt to the figurative second balcony in showstoppers like the Academy Award nominated “How Lucky Can You Get?”

The film in fact is oddly reminiscent of another supposed musical biography that sought to peel back the facade of an iconic star, in that case Gertrude Lawrence in the Julie Andrews-Robert Wise Star!. Like that behemoth 1968 entry, Funny Lady struggles in its dramatic moments but springs to life in its recreations of some of Brice’s stage (and recording) triumphs. Ross stages some of the huge production numbers with a lot of panache, generating momentum that is unfortunately enervated as soon as the singing and dancing stop.

Funny Lady Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Funny Lady is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is by and large a really lustrous looking high definition presentation, though curmudgeons may feel flesh tones tip a bit toward the pink side at times. That niggling qualm aside, the colors here are really resplendent, and detail is often superb, with textures on the Oscar nominated costumes really popping. Contrast is solid and secure, as are black levels (Ross rather peculiarly stages a couple of numbers in near darkness). Grain is natural looking and resolves organically throughout the presentation, and there are no signs of problematic filtering or sharpening in evidence.

Funny Lady Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Funny Lady features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which nicely places the musical sequences throughout the side and rear channels, while always offering prime prioritization to Streisand's amazing voice. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and there are a wealth of good sound effects and ambient environmental noises that are utilized to keep the soundstage active, not necessarily only in noisier, crowded moments. Fidelity is excellent and there are no problems of any kind to report. Sadly this is the second Streisand vehicle released this month by Twilight Time (the other being Yentl) that doesn't feature Twilight Time's stock in trade, an isolated music track.

Funny Lady Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• In Search of a Star (1080p; 8:56) is a vintage featurette paying homage to La Streisand.


• The New Look of Barbra in Funny Lady (1080p; 4:86) is another vintage piece, this time concentrating more on production and costume design.


• Dancing on the Water (480p; 2:55) focuses on one of the film's big production numbers.


• Original Domestic Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:25)


• Original International Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:24)

Funny Lady Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frankly, maybe agreeing to Funny Lady was part of Streisand's master plan to extricate herself from stultifying screen musicals. Even she seems to be floundering at times in this messy and unfocused sequel. There are moments of brilliance here, with Ross doing great work recreating some production numbers of yore, but overall this is a kind of tired and ultimately depressing enterprise (is there some subliminal subtext to the fact that the film's logo has Streisand crying?). Technical merits are very strong, and while the film is ultimately no Funny Girl, it's just barely involving enough to come Recommended.