Movie · 1957 · Music, Comedy, Romance · 1h 43m · NR · English
Curator score: 7.1/10 (36K ratings)
S'Wonderful! S'Marvelous! ...She's The Fairest Lady of All!
Overview
A shy Greenwich Village book clerk is discovered by a fashion photographer and whisked off to Paris where she becomes a reluctant model.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.1/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 75
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Stanley Donen
Production
Paramount Pictures
Cast
Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair, Robert Flemyng, Dovima, Suzy Parker, Sunny Hartnett, Jean Del Val, Virginia Gibson, Sue England, Ruta Lee, Alex Gerry, Bess Flowers, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Bert Stevens, Harold Miller, Franklyn Farnum, Brandon Beach, Carole Eastman
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, high-energy Technicolor musical with standout choreography, Parisian fantasy, and Audrey Hepburn’s effortless screen presence. The romance is the weakest part, but the visual design, dance numbers, and fashion-world satire make it a classic worth seeing.
Best for
fans of classic Hollywood musicals
viewers who love fashion and Paris settings
audiences who prioritize style, color, and choreography
Audrey Hepburn admirers
people who enjoy light romantic comedies with musical numbers
Skip if
you need strong romantic chemistry
you dislike old-school musical staging
you want a plot-driven film over mood and spectacle
you are sensitive to age-gap romance dynamics
Overview
Funny Face is at its best when it turns into a moving fashion editorial: bold color, crisp compositions, and dance numbers that feel designed to show off fabric, space, and motion. Stanley Donen keeps the film buoyant and playful, and the Paris sequences give it a dreamy, aspirational glow that still lands decades later.
Worth noting
Audrey Hepburn is the center of gravity here, balancing awkwardness, elegance, and comic timing in a way that makes the character’s transformation feel charming rather than mechanical. Fred Astaire brings polish and ease, though the romance between them is more functional than electric, and the film is happiest when it leans into style, performance, and wit instead of courtship.
Bottom line
The first half is especially strong, with the bookstore-to-fashion-world contrast giving the movie a lively sense of discovery. If you come for the songs, choreography, and visual invention, it delivers beautifully; if you come for a convincing love story, it may leave you wanting more.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sai (4★) · 4899 likes
if audrey hepburn has a "funny" face what does that make my face
Michał (4.5★) · 4762 likes
i was enjoying this so much until audrey hepburn kissed fred astaire's old shrivelled face and i felt attacked
Mercedes (3.5★) · 2818 likes
This could be so much better if there wasn’t any romance: astaire and hepburn don’t share any chemistry, the romance itself is rushed, doesn’t make sense and honestly isn’t romantic in the slightest, and it’s not what the film should be about.
The first portion of this film is absolutely fantastic. Amazing music numbers and choreography, the songs are good, and the colours! the cinematography! everything about it is perfect and unique. However, the last half of the film really… more
mia lee vicino (3★) · 2725 likes
the Look of the Day is audrey hepburn in a black turtleneck interpretive dancing in a parisian beatnik night club
luana (5★) · 1796 likes
I’m calling anyone who annoys me a ‘hostile vibration’ from now on
1963 · Comedy, Mystery, Romance · 1h 53m · NR · Curator 8.5/10 (289K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Pure Flix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Bloodstream
A stylish Paris-set comedy-thriller with Audrey Hepburn’s charm and a similarly elegant mood.
1936 · Comedy · 1h 35m · NR · Curator 9.2/10 (28.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Pure Flix, FlixFling, IndieFlix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A sparkling class-comedy about social worlds colliding, with a playful, sophisticated tone.