Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, as well as her marriage to the rakish gambler Nick Arnstein.
Funny Girl is anchored almost entirely by Barbra Streisand's towering debut performance, which is genuinely exceptional — her comedic timing, vocal power, and screen presence are all extraordinary and make the film. The plot is a fairly conventional rise-and-fall showbiz biography with a troubled romance, hitting familiar beats without much structural ingenuity. Cinematography is competent and glossy in the Hollywood tradition of the era but not particularly distinctive. The film's novelty lies mainly in Streisand herself and the freshness of her persona, though the musical biopic form is well-worn. The ending, with Fanny alone after Nick's departure singing 'My Man,' is emotionally resonant but bittersweet and somewhat abrupt in its resolution of the dramatic threads.