Funny Girl was a fantastic musical, famous also for having the lead actress tie in her Oscar win with Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter (because she voted for herself), so was interested to see how the sequel would fare, from director Herbert Ross (The Sunshine Boys, Footloose, The Secret of My Succe$s). Basically, set in 1930's New York, this is a set after singer and comedienne Fanny Brice (Golden Globe nominated Barbra Streisand) has divorced Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). With the Depression taking effect all over the place she is finding it difficult to find work both on the stage and in recording, but then she meets songwriter and impresario Billy Rose (Golden Globe nominated James Caan), and she does find it easier. Their relationship gets very close and they eventually get married, and Fanny gains back her success in the recording studio singing the songs that he has written. There is a point when Nicky comes back to see her, but he is of course married to someone else, but she naturally still has feelings for him, and he does for her. Of course the marriage with Bill doesn't work as well as Fanny thought it would, and obviously they divorce, and supposedly she continues her success until her death. Also starring Roddy McDowall as Bobby Moore, Golden Globe nominated Ben Vereen as Bert Robbins, Carole Wells as Norma Butler, Larry Gates as Bernard Baruch, Heidi O'Rourke as Eleanor Holm, Samantha C. Kirkeby/Huffaker as Fran and Matt Emery as Buck Bolton. Streisand is a little less enthusiastic in this follow up but still nice to watch and listen to, Caan is okay as her new husband showing her the ropes, there are some catchy songs like "Let's Hear It For Me" and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)", it is not as fun watch as the original film, in fact it for me was a little boring, but it isn't a completely terrible biographical musical. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Song for "How Lucky Can You Get" (also nominated the Golden Globe), Best Music for Peter Matz and Best Sound, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy and Best Original Score for John Kander and Fred Ebb. Okay!
Review of Funny Lady
