Barbra Streisand is talented, she absolutely is. Even straight men who hate her with every fiber of their being have no choice but to admit that the broad can sing and she ain't too bad in a movie either. And one need only see this film to see how good a director she is. This film is beautiful. Every frame is like a Renoir painting. The script is intriguing and original, the performances (especially Mandy Patinkin's) are great and overall it's a lovely film...
Which would've been about a hundred and ninety eight times better if BARBRA STREISAND HADN'T SUNG!! Don't get me wrong, as I intimated above, I love hearing Barbra sing, but this movie didn't need it. The songs (sung mostly by Streisand in the title role in the form of inner monologue [which is to say that they play in her head and her lips don't move] or out loud to an empty room or a reflection in a mirror, which gets old pretty quick) are superfluous. They do little to move the action or explain the characters, Yentl just sings what she feels at semi-regular intervals throughout the movie. I mean, they're pretty enough songs and keep in mind, this is coming from an openly straight musical theater lover who knows Broadway and Hollywood from "Oklahoma" to "The Producers."
Bottom line: Watch it as a beautifully shot movie about a girl trying to be more than society wants her to be. If you want a GOOD musical in which Streisand does at least ninety-five percent of the singing? Pick up "Funny Girl."
Which would've been about a hundred and ninety eight times better if BARBRA STREISAND HADN'T SUNG!! Don't get me wrong, as I intimated above, I love hearing Barbra sing, but this movie didn't need it. The songs (sung mostly by Streisand in the title role in the form of inner monologue [which is to say that they play in her head and her lips don't move] or out loud to an empty room or a reflection in a mirror, which gets old pretty quick) are superfluous. They do little to move the action or explain the characters, Yentl just sings what she feels at semi-regular intervals throughout the movie. I mean, they're pretty enough songs and keep in mind, this is coming from an openly straight musical theater lover who knows Broadway and Hollywood from "Oklahoma" to "The Producers."
Bottom line: Watch it as a beautifully shot movie about a girl trying to be more than society wants her to be. If you want a GOOD musical in which Streisand does at least ninety-five percent of the singing? Pick up "Funny Girl."