The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I can't say that i'm the greatest Hepburn fan there is, and i'm sure i don't know as many facts about her life as the majority of review authors here, but i sincerely respect and admire her work, charisma and cultural figure. Audrey Hepburn is love at first sight. And as it happens, i saw 'The Audrey Hepburn story' for the first time today. Found it accidentally, while i was searching for something to kill my Saturday morning boredom. At first sight, i was SHOCKED. My brain was processing the name 'Audrey Hepburn' with pleasant feeling, while my eyes were trapped in the greatest of pains by the sight of J.L. Hewitt under that title. ...how could you?!? I usually don't mind seeing J.L.Hewitt on the screen, because her typical roles are shallow and meaningless, and she is just another blurry-whatever-TV face with suspicious amount of talent for me, but she gets some kind of audience anyway, so it's OK. But this was outrageous. She was purely IRRITANT. Even with a good plot, she would have blew it up. The girl simply doesn't fit! Of course, many ingredients are needed in order to make a good movie of any kind, but i believe that even if many of those ingredients are missing, a good lead role can balance the efforts. Audrey Hepburn is magic, aura, energy, charm, beauty, vibration, sunrays, elegance, courage, uniqueness, a feeling of warmth and joy when you see her unforgettable appearance. A reason for pride in all the women in the world. She deserves much, much more. It is as simple as that.

TV starlet Jennifer Love Hewitt as Audrey Hepburn is a casting fiasco. That an actress with small frame and fine facial features was necessary for the generation of TV spawn who have never seen her films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or "Roman Holiday," was the likely reason Love-Hewitt was selected for the role seems the only reasonable explanation. It certainly was never because of her staggering talent as the young woman extended her range from A to a and got to wear her mother's dresses simultaneously. This is cartoon pablum at best and worst. The excellent character actress, Frances Fisher as Audrey's elegant aristocratic mother wipes Hewitt off the page by just a restrained glance and her considerable talent. Eric McCormick as Mel Ferrar seems a tad too animated and beefy, but it is the remainder of the cast who seem to have only been cast because of their minimal resemblance to known actors such as Gregory Peck and William Holden who are truly forgettable with cause. Affected and lacking the grace of Ms. Hepburn, this made for TV drama is worthy of a Rassie award for worst of the worst. It is painful to see the memory of Ms. Hepburn reduced to farce. Stick to her films and skip the made-for-TV insult.

I must admit that after reading all of the reviews to be horrified by JLH presentation as Audrey Hepburn. But I was somewhat surprised. I didn't think that she was the best actress available, I think Emmy Rossum should have played Audrey the entire movie, but JLH does an alright job. She doesn't do the perfect accent, but then I don't think that any actress could do the accent perfectly. I never knew of the horrible things that happened to Audrey during her life and this movie made me cry, especially during Emmy's scenes. I have such respect for Audrey Hepburn now. The work she did made such a difference and it's sad that she is gone now.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's portrayal of Audrey is the real problem in this movie. She made Audrey look like a spineless sap who was unbelievably sweeter-than-sugar and modest, almost clueless as to the real world. The way the movie made Audrey seem obsessive about having a baby was also really awful. I also think a more well-rounded view of Audrey's life, including the strained relationship with her mother and Mel Ferrer's cheating on her, not to mention her life after Breakfast at Tiffany's, would have made this movie into something worthwhile to watch. I understand that this was not a biography, but why make a movie that is completely false, when the dramatization doesn't add anything special to the story?