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An exemplary screwball, one the best of its genre.
by Kat (movies profile)
Dec 29, 2007
5
of
6 people found this review helpful
I first heard about it years ago, first saw a snippet on TNT a few years after that, and got it highly recced to me by some folks on a forum a few years after THAT. Months of searching through bins in the DVD stalls and I come across this movie at last, and boyohboy was it a great find.
Cary Grant is at his gorgeous, screwball best in this film, supported by the ever brilliant Rosalind Russell, who matches him word for fastpaced word in this dialogue-driven, witty film about a newspaper editor and the star reporter who also happens to be his ex wife. The way the actors manage to carry off the sheer speed of the story without faltering is cause enough for accolades, but the genuine rapport between Grant and Russell and their supporting cast makes the watch a truly enjoyable experience.
The dialogue is wry, the humor sardonic, but I found myself laughing out loud over and over again as the characters encountered knot after knot in their already tangled storylines. Though I normally count cinematography and art direction as a large factor in my analysis of a movie, it was only afterwards when I sat and took the time to think about it specifically that I realized His Girl Friday was shot in a very simple, very straightforward manner, which, while not detracting at all from the film, accounts for its average grade for both visuals and direction. I remember reading somewhere that the movie is based on another movie which was itself based on a Broadway play, which may account for this setup.
But, and I repeat, this is a movie worth watching. Modern attempts at creating this kind of rom-com tandem simply don't pull it off. Watching His Girl Friday just reaffirmed my love for the classics, and oh, how I love the classics! |
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