Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that on their day in New York together,
Paul and Holly steal two masks from a dime store for fun.
Although it is probably not a good idea to make heavy-handed
references to this as a moral failure, in discussions with
teens, parents may want to voice their concerns.
Families can talk about "the mean reds." Have you ever felt that way? Why does Tiffany's make Holly feel better when she feels that way? What makes you feel better? Why did Holly marry Doc? Why did she leave him? What makes Paul decide to break up with the woman he refers to as "2-E"? What did O.J. mean when he called Holly a "real phony?"
Common Sense Media Review
Paul Varjack (George Peppard), a writer who is being
supported by a wealthy woman (Patricia Neal), is intrigued by
his upstairs neighbor, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn). Holly
is an enchanting combination of breathtaking elegance, glossy
Manhattan sophistication, and an engaging willingness to
confide in Paul because she says he reminds her of her brother
Fred. Still, she doesn't really tell him anything about
herself, except that she likes to go to Tiffany's when she has
"the mean reds" and needs to be surrounded by something
comforting. She has a very active social life, but no
particular job, and she picks up money in a number of odd ways
from men, the oddest being getting paid to visit an elderly mob
figure in Sing Sing prison once a month.
A man seems to be following Paul, but when Paul confronts him it turns out he was following Holly. He explains he was once Holly's husband, and that he took care of Holly and Fred when their parents died and married her when she was 15. He has come to take her back home to rural Texas. But she tells him that she is a "wild thing" and cannot be kept in a cage, and sends him home alone.
Holly's plan is to marry a wealthy man, so she can take care of Fred when he gets out of the Army. She is almost successful in becoming engaged to a millionaire, but he is scared off when it turns out that she has unknowingly been carrying messages back and forth in her visits to Sing Sing. Paul comforts her when her brother is killed, and he realizes he has fallen in love with her. She will not admit to loving him, and he accuses her of being afraid to let herself become too close to anyone, even her cat. She realizes that she wants to be with someone she can really love and runs after him and the cat in the pouring rain.
