"Breakfast at Tiffany's" Review

Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style some day.

Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you're going I'm going your way.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, as with many things, has gotten better over time. Breakfast at Tiffany's begins at the crack of dawn with the wistful melody of the song Moon River being hummed by a chorus in the background. Holly Golightly, portrayed by Audrey Hepburn, steps out of her cab after a long night on the town and takes her ritual tour past Tiffany's jewelry store. Coffee in one hand and bagel in the other, Holly is mesmerized by the diamonds and jewelry in the massive store windows.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of the most profoundly sad, yet optimistic and light hearted stories ever written. Every character has -- well character. Each is intricately defined to give them not just screen time but life. We care about each character because we get to know and understand each one of them. None is more beloved than Holly Golightly, the films heroine. Hepburn pours herself into the waifish character that has no real job, nor home, nor even friend. Years before, Holly had escaped her southern shackles for the big city in New York and traded in her country twang by taking French lessons. She lives in an unfurnished one bedroom apartment with a cat she doesn't even bother to name. "If I could find a real life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, well then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name". She throws lavish parties and surrounds herself with New York's society scene but always ends up alone.

Although the fact is merely alluded to and not directly handled, Hepburn's character is something of a "lady of the night" in many ways. She lives off of the money her male companions give her. "I mean any gentleman with the slightest chic will give a girl a fifty dollar bill for the powder room". All Holly wants is to have money and success and most of all to be able to afford to shop in Tiffany's anytime she wants. "Nothing really bad could ever happen to you there (Tiffany's)" she remarked soulfully. The story paints the picture that her mission in life is to find some wealthy man to make her dreams come true but the truth is Holly is one of those endearing lost souls that just wants to feel safe and loved and knows no other way to get it.

We learn in the middle of the tale that Holly had married a father type figure when she was only 14 to provide stability for her and her brother but she didn't stay around for the honeymoon. Beverly Hillbillies' Buddy Ebsen plays her long lost husband who comes to reclaim his child bride only to leave empty handed when she reminds him that their ill fated marriage had been annulled ages before.

As fate would have it, she falls in love with her penniless neighbor, Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard, who is in a similar line of "work "as Holly. A struggling writer, Paul uses his "male wiles" to live off the purses of lonely older housewives. Holly and Paul make a perfect pair, both hustlers with hearts but Holly fights their chemistry tooth and nail determined to pin down some successful tycoon or dignitary.

Breakfast at Tiffany's uses lot's of authentic scenery including New York City blocks for many of the scenes. There is also a cameo played by Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi, the upstairs neighbor tormented by Holly's constant partying.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a classic and a wonderful tale of love and loss and of not judging a book by its cover. You will find yourself rooting for Paul and Holly to make it work. This movie is timeless and comes complete with tear jerking, rain soaked confessions of love in New York City alleyways and Moon River serenading in the background.