Customer Reviews

The Audrey Hepburn Story [VHS]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I was not a huge Jennifer Love Hewitt fan before I saw this film and my opinion stays the same after seeing it. I don't think Hewitt looks anything like Audrey, except for having brown hair and brown eyes. Plus her attempt at an accent was completely over-the-top.

But my fault with this film is not with Jennifer Love Hewitt; she should have never been cast in the role of Audrey Hepburn in the first place. Which brings me to the true problem with this film - the production. The story is not entirely historically accurate to Audrey's life: portions are missing, costuming is wrong, and the movie ends abruptly with Breakfast at Tiffany's which was debatedly the pinnacle of Audrey's film work but certainly not the end of her story. There are so many valuble resources on Audrey's life that there is no reason for it to not be correct; this is just the result of shoddy, underbudgeted, made-for-TV filmmaking. I believe you shouldn't do anything halfway and that is exactly what has been done here.

If she saw this film, I think Audrey would graciously thank the producers for considering to do a movie about her life, while secretly wondering why half of her life is absent. These are my feelings as well. I look towards the day when we can see a well-budgeted, major motion picture about Audrey Hepburn's life. Until then, The Audrey Hepburn Story will have to do - but I think I'll read a biography instead.

Frankly, I came to this film expecting to find fault and to be a detractor. After all, how could someone have the temerity to attempt to portray Audrey Hepburn, one of the ethereal luminaries of the screen. I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn when I was 12 years old and saw her in Sabrina in 1954; I remained in love with her for the rest of her life. Consequently, I doubted that any mere mortal could do justice to this role, especially Jennifer Love Hewitt, who had not be known for major dramatic performances. However, I must concede that I was pleasantly surprised.

The performance was quite convincing and believable. Hewitt had Audrey Hepburn's voice and a number of her mannerisms down quite well, and also conveyed some of the fragility of her personality. On balance, I found the film quite satisfying and enjoyable.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is clearly not Audrey Hepburn, she doesn't even come close, but, I will concede that she did a great job at producing and starring in this made-for-TV-movie. It takes us from Audrey's childhood all the way to one of her many defining moments - the filming of Breakfast At Tiffany's.
It really is a pleasant film to watch. Although the script can be slow at times, I feel that it honors Audrey's memory. Even her son approved of this biography.
Ultimately, I'd like to say to those who bash Ms. Hewitt for starring in this bio-pic, I'm glad that she used the fame she has to introduce Audrey to a younger audience that possibly would have never learned about her otherwise.
I give this movie four stars because of Emmy Rossum's incredible talents. I wish her and Ms. Hewitt many more successes.

Whoever cast this movie sure made a big mistake choosing Jennifer Love Hewitt. She might play a sweet teen but sure couldn't fill the shoes of Audrey Hepburn. She looked like a child playing dress up. This little girl obviously didn't do her homework. She never captured Audrey's elegance and free spirit. It would take a very special person to play such an extroadinary person like Audrey Hepburn. Actually I think they should have found an unknown that would have brought a fresh look into the the life of Audrey Hepburn. Even the character that played Capote didn't convince me. I felt the movie as a whole looked as though it was thrown together which made me bored with the whole process. I felt nothing. Since Audrey Hepburn was a big screen movie star this movie should have been made for the big screen not T.V.

1. Movies like this live or die on their portrayal of the famous people in them. Jennifer Love Hewitt worked hard to "get Audrey down" (and was wildly overpraised for it in TV Guide and elsewhere), and while she got by (maybe), the actor playing William Holden was barely adequate if that, the actor playing Gregory Peck terrible. Similar portrayals, from OK to lousy, run through the movie. NO ONE was very good, or even good. 2. I heard Truman Capote speak in 1973. He was still complaining that Marilyn Monroe was not cast in Breakfast at Tiffany's. This movie seems to say that, after the alley scene that ends Breakfast, Capote fully accepted Audrey. Why would they change that fact unless it was to enhance Hewitt's presumption that she could really play one of the great film actresses? 3. A three-hour running time (including commercials) and they could only get to 1961, then just tack on some film of the real Audrey late in life? Who invested in this. Conclusion: worth seeing if you have time to kill; decidedly not worth buying.

I saw this movie on television. I was really excited because I thought it would be interesting and Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses. Well...This movie was AWFUL!! Why on earth would they pick Jennifer Hewitt to play Audrey Hepburn. Natile Portman might have been a better choice. As others said, the girl who played the younger Audrey did a pretty good job. Perhaps Miss Hewitt is a better actress in other shows and movies, but not this time. This movie could almost be classified as a comedy! She didn't even keep up her fake Audrey voice throughout the entire movie,and when she did use it she sounded like Audrey with one word 'CAT'.The actors who played Gregory Peck and William Holden were a joke; they were awful and didn't look or sound like either Peck or Holden. The movie showed none of Audrey's later life. If you missed seeing this on television,you didn't miss much. If you still want to see this, rent it; you might be sorry if you buy it first.

Jennifer Love Hewitt certainly has a lot of courage to take on a role that she had to know would bring her more criticism than acclaim. Or she just isn't that bright. It is sure to be the greatest mistake of her career. It is noticeable how much effort she puts into portraying Audrey, but she does it void of emotion. And as if Audrey Hepburn was only a paperdoll. Not a woman with a real story to tell.

Audrey Hepburn was admired for much more than her looks and talents. She was a woman who suffered and survived many things! She was courageous, intelligent, generous, the list goes on and on! Hewitt's performance reflects NONE of this. It takes more than doe eyes.

Hewitt needs to stick to fluffy teen movies and Neutrogena commercials until she matures as an actress. I did not find her looks or mannerisms to reflect Audrey's very much, but more because Hewitt was obviously trying so hard, it did not seem to come natural at all. Maybe if she wasn't such an obvious wanna-be and had relaxed, she would have done a better job?

Many people say, well *who* could have portrayed Audrey and my answer is (I am sure I will get flamed for saying this), I would have much rather seen Julia Ormond in this role. I know she wasn't supposed to be portraying AUDREY HEPBURN in her role as Sabrina (the remake with Harrison Ford), and at the time her performance was so reminiscent of Audrey that it irritated me - BUT after seeing THIS horrible "movie" with JLH it made me appreciate Julia Ormond so much much more! I think she would have done a splendid job. Ormond really captures Audrey Hepburns softness and warmth of character and heart. Also, I agree with the previous review that suggested Natalie Portman. Perhaps Natalie Portman as a young Audrey Hepburn and Julia Ormond as a mature Audrey Hepburn? Can we please reshoot this film?

Jennifer Love Hewitt showed us her stuggle which was a distraction to the story. Poorly produced and researched as well - you miss out on so much. You are much better off buying the A&E Biography tape (much better than the Hollywood Collection, Audrey Remembered) and reading Alexander Walker's biography on Audrey Hepburn.

It would have been refreshing and enjoyable to see a story based on Audrey Hepburns life, not documentary style and maybe some day we will. However, this movie is not worth the buy and not worth the watch, unless you are curious to see just how bad a job Hewitt did. I'm really not trying to just slam JLH, I happened to like her on Party of Five.

If I had all that money I could produce and star in a poorly written movie about one of the best actresses to ever grace Hollywood -- but that doesn't mean I would or should. JLH's casting of (surprise, surprise) herself as Audrey Hepburn is, believe it or not, a new lowpoint in made-for-tv movies. Her only physical similarities are brown hair and eyes. She is too short and busty to play the 5'7" waif-like Audrey. It was more like dress-up playtime for JLH than any serious attempt at portraying any truths about Hepburn. Her accent was inconsistant and nothing like Audrey Hepburn's smooth and enchanting voice. She was the opposite of graceful, poised, and captivating. Her acting was more suited for a high-school drama club play than a movie about such an amazing woman. This was poorly acted, poorly casted, poorly written, poorly directed, and so very inaccurate! (I could go on and on.) I wasted 3 hours of my life on this when it aired on tv ... hopefully something good will come of it in my ability to help you save your money. Don't waste a cent on this frothy nothing of a made-for-tv debacle!

Though Jennifer Love Hewitt delivers great performances (or not)in Teen flicks, she must be bold to try to accomplish such a role in an Audrey Hepburn biopic. I've watched all of Audrey Hepburn's films as well as researched many of her biographies, and believe Jennifer Love Hewitt did a poor job in portraying the hollywood legend. The movie wasn't grounded, it didn't have a good feel to it, they didn't contribute a lot of the things that was most important to Audrey...except to show the rise of fame. The other actors portraying other characters in the hollywood era looked nothing like the characters themselves-including Jennifer Love Hewitt portraying Audrey Hepburn. Jennifer Love Hewitt's look is of no resemblance to the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. If not for the hair from the Breakfast at Tiffany's set-they might as well have had Whoopi Goldberg portraying Audrey Hepburn. I was VERY disappointed in spending $ on this film. Not worth owning. To satisfy the curiosity of movie goers, worth a view for half the movie-I'd bunk the rest. In my opinion, it was a ludricous portrayal of the beautiful, classic legend. To what honor shall Jennifer Love Hewitt have portraying the legend? An unknown actress would have suited more than she. She's too bubbly-and her own usual character shows through too much to make her Audrey Hepburn impersonation fall through. She brings in too much of her "own" look and smile to Audrey's, the classic smile she poses for every one of her films. Not genuine. Not believable AT ALL.

What an awful movie. Audrey Hepburn can never be portrayed well enough by one actress today in a movie. There are many actresses that hold some of her qualities, but never all of them. Certainly not Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Speaking of the "leading lady", it's a sad tale about how she won the role of Audrey in this film. You see, the young actress fancies herself to be an Audrey for the ages, but even she knows it's not true, so she bought the rights to the movie, produced it and cast herself as Audrey. She is no Audrey Hepburn.

Where Audrey always was always so unsure of her looks, Hewitt takes the `character' and makes her devoid of that emotion. Other qualities of Audrey lack as well. Hewitt should stick with those TV series for FOX; although they'll still fail, they won't be as bad as this movie.

Another alteration for Hewitt's casting was the flashback-from-Breakfast-At-Tiffany's situation. That stunt painted over some of her finest work, including the fabulous `Wait Until Dark' and tosses it into a small paragraph at the end.

You may think I am being a harsh judge, but worse criticisms have been uttered. Audrey Hepburn, quite possibly the greatest actress to ever work in Hollywood, should never be handled with such, for lack of a btter word, stupidity. This movie handles her with just that.