Roman Holiday is a movie of its time and place. In more ways than one. We can't go back to 1950s Rome. Or 1950s Hollywood. The alluring city of Rome is a wonderful setting for the film. It's Rome as we'd like to remember it, a Rome that in many ways doesn't exist anymore. Life was just different back then. Simpler, probably happier, definitely more charming. The movie is also the product of a Hollywood that no longer exists. This is a movie with a very definite 1950s style and feel. Unfortunately that 1950s style doesn't always translate for the modern viewer. It was a simpler time in movie-making as well as life but this film is perhaps a little too simple for modern tastes. The plot is threadbare. The movie doesn't have much energy to it. It's all very relaxed. Too relaxed. For whatever charms the movie has it just isn't entertaining enough. There's just not enough going on.
Aside from the wonderful 1950s time capsule look at Rome the film has one other thing clearly working in its favor. Audrey Hepburn. In this, her first major role, Hepburn is relentlessly charming. It's so easy to see why she would go on to become one of the world's most beloved stars. But all her charms aren't quite enough to overcome the problems with the story. The central problem being that there isn't enough of a story at all. Hepburn plays Ann, princess of an unspecified European country. She's on a grand tour of Europe, appearing before teeming crowds of thousands everywhere she goes. She is obviously a quite notably famous person. Which makes the fact that she goes completely unrecognized by anyone when she slips away from her royal duties to wander the streets of Rome more than a little hard to believe. Even the supposedly astute reporter who will become her companion on her little getaway has no idea who she is until he sees her picture in the paper. Mind you, this guy was supposed to be interviewing the princess that very day. Is he really that much of a dunce? And then this story, hard to believe as it is, just kind of sits there. This is a movie which could really use some bursts of energy to drive it forward.
The story of a princess who longs to be a regular woman, to get out there and live and love a little, has its possibilities. But this movie doesn't do enough with its story. And for a movie billed as a romantic comedy the laughs are very few and far between. Hepburn is terrific, no quibbles with anything she does. You just wish the movie gave her the chance to do more. Hepburn's co-star Gregory Peck comes across as a little wooden and unnatural. He's a Hollywood legend in his own right but there's no doubt that in this film it is Hepburn's star which shines much brighter. Peck's character of reporter Joe Bradley is so bland you wonder how the princess could possibly find herself falling for him. Maybe after leading such a sheltered life she's just so grateful to have the chance to fall for anybody. But the romance never really rings true. At least there's Joe's photographer friend Irving to inject some personality into the proceedings. Irving, as portrayed by Eddie Albert, has got a little life to him. But that's just a supporting part. If the main character of Joe doesn't work, which it really doesn't, the movie suffers. It's easy to understand why Roman Holiday was so acclaimed and generally loved upon its initial release. It has some things going for it, the wonderful Hepburn first and foremost. But it's a movie with a style which suits the era in which it was made, not playing nearly as well today. Not a bad movie but not notably better than average either. For as much as Hepburn may charm you the movie does not do enough to entertain you.
Aside from the wonderful 1950s time capsule look at Rome the film has one other thing clearly working in its favor. Audrey Hepburn. In this, her first major role, Hepburn is relentlessly charming. It's so easy to see why she would go on to become one of the world's most beloved stars. But all her charms aren't quite enough to overcome the problems with the story. The central problem being that there isn't enough of a story at all. Hepburn plays Ann, princess of an unspecified European country. She's on a grand tour of Europe, appearing before teeming crowds of thousands everywhere she goes. She is obviously a quite notably famous person. Which makes the fact that she goes completely unrecognized by anyone when she slips away from her royal duties to wander the streets of Rome more than a little hard to believe. Even the supposedly astute reporter who will become her companion on her little getaway has no idea who she is until he sees her picture in the paper. Mind you, this guy was supposed to be interviewing the princess that very day. Is he really that much of a dunce? And then this story, hard to believe as it is, just kind of sits there. This is a movie which could really use some bursts of energy to drive it forward.
The story of a princess who longs to be a regular woman, to get out there and live and love a little, has its possibilities. But this movie doesn't do enough with its story. And for a movie billed as a romantic comedy the laughs are very few and far between. Hepburn is terrific, no quibbles with anything she does. You just wish the movie gave her the chance to do more. Hepburn's co-star Gregory Peck comes across as a little wooden and unnatural. He's a Hollywood legend in his own right but there's no doubt that in this film it is Hepburn's star which shines much brighter. Peck's character of reporter Joe Bradley is so bland you wonder how the princess could possibly find herself falling for him. Maybe after leading such a sheltered life she's just so grateful to have the chance to fall for anybody. But the romance never really rings true. At least there's Joe's photographer friend Irving to inject some personality into the proceedings. Irving, as portrayed by Eddie Albert, has got a little life to him. But that's just a supporting part. If the main character of Joe doesn't work, which it really doesn't, the movie suffers. It's easy to understand why Roman Holiday was so acclaimed and generally loved upon its initial release. It has some things going for it, the wonderful Hepburn first and foremost. But it's a movie with a style which suits the era in which it was made, not playing nearly as well today. Not a bad movie but not notably better than average either. For as much as Hepburn may charm you the movie does not do enough to entertain you.