As much as I love movies, I've somehow managed to avoid seeing some of the most acclaimed movies ever made.  E.T., The Godfather, Raging Bull, Lawrence of Arabia.  In an effort to correct this egregious oversight, I've been working my way through some films I've been told that I "absolutely must see."   One such film is Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

And what do I think, now that I have seen it? I’m glad you asked.  

On the whole, I like the movie.  There’s nobody quite like Audrey Hepburn, of course, and Holly Golightly is definitely an interesting heroine.  I like her practicality, and with her beauty, unpredictability and spunk it is easy to see why men would throw money at her.  I also like the fact that some of the plot twists took me by surprise.  The old guy is her husband?  She’s marrying Rico Suave?  She got busted for drugs?  

Another positive element is the realism of some of the plot twists. Paul dumps his sugar mama for Holly and then Holly is going to marry the rich Brazilian anyway.  Holly doesn't dump Rico Suave; Rico dumps her.  She doesn't start getting twinkles in her eyes and she never forgets about needing money.  It makes her complicated and practical.  Hollywood doesn’t have enough real, complicated characters in their films (like Alyssa in Chasing Amy—kind of a 90s equivalent).   

On the other hand, there are a few things I didn’t care for.  Now, I am not one for being ultra P.C., but Mickey Rooney’s character has not stood the test of time at all.  Those false teeth?  That accent?  I wasn’t so much offended as I was really irritated.   

Also, I feel at least some sympathy for Holly until she pushes her cat out of the taxi into the rain.  No, I don’t care that she ended up finding him again.  No matter how pissy I was, I would not throw a poor, helpless, defenseless cat out into the rain.  And she’s upset when she can’t find him again?  What a brat! She is like a little kid who broke her toy—and then I’m supposed to be happy for her when it’s miraculously fixed?  No way.  If that cat had gotten run over by a bus, I wouldn’t have felt sorry for her.  

Also, George Peppard’s character is a doormat.  He lets Holly call him "Fred" through half the movie, and even though she treats him like utter crap after their night together, he doesn’t care and keeps following her around like a puppy.  And then there is the not insignificant problem that they have no chemistry.  The guy is like vanilla pudding.  We should have been able to sense the torment of these two characters, that they want to be together, but they are both so practical that finances are keeping them apart.   

But how can you be tormented by vanilla pudding?