The Audrey Hepburn Story

jeeezz...i personally love Audrey Hepburn..but jennifer love hewitt has totally ruined it by acting as the legendary icon in this awful movie!!!!when i was watching this movie,all the time i was wondering,WHY JENNIFER???there are other better actresses out there and some actually looked a bit like Audrey herself!(think natalie portman,winona ryder,calista flockhart).then i realised that she was the co-executive producer of the show,so it's pretty OBVIOUS why she was chosen to act as Audrey!it's a shame that a movie about this waif-like actress was taken down by Jennifer's lack of acting skills.

Many actresses have "played" the ingenue role, but Audrey Hepburn "was" that role. Modern audiences tend to be rather jaded about such things, and for good reason. No sooner do we discover some seemingly innocent yet precocious girl on the screen, who wins our hearts, but her mug is in the tabloids, all painted up like a tart, and involved in some sordid situation. They pretend they aren't role models, just actresses "playing" role models, but Audrey Hepburn was what she was both off-screen and on.

To the "youth" audience of today, with its Winona Ryders, and for that matter Jennifer Love Hewett, an Audrey Hepburn must seem as remote and irrelevant as a Shirley Temple or Mary Pickford. Yet Audrey personified something sadly missing in these starlets of today - something decent and respectable, unwilling to appear cheap and sleazy. Perhaps through this excellent portrayal of her life, younger audiences will discover that, at least to Audrey, an actress could be "more" than just another painted-up, tinsel-town puppet.

The characterization of Audrey, as portrayed by Hewett, is so perfect that one wonders how anyone like that could ever have pulled it off. To the minutest detail of every look, word and nuance of Audrey Hepburn, she gives a thoroughly convincing rendition. Too bad some of the depth didn't rub off along with mastering the surfaces. The only critical comment is that the film was obviously made for television, with rather jarring breaks to allow for commercials. These are not there for the recorded version, and hence just when we get in the mood for one scene, we are jolted into another. The result seems hacked up and butchered. That's a minor complaint for an otherwise outstanding film, however.

Well, it's no surprise that this movie has gotten so many bad reviews. It was never going to be great. Jennifer Love Hewitt could never be Audrey Hepburn. We all know this. That being said, many of us who hated the movie have offered suggestions of who would have been better. Some say Natalie Portman, some say Winona Ryder. Many suggested actresses who looked more like Audrey Hepburn. I disagree.

Here's the deal: Audrey Hepburn had a style, grace, charm and elegance without equal. She had a talent and a screen presence like no other. She was a gifted actress who gave up showbiz and dedicated her life to UNICEF and helping children across the world. She had a rare beauty both outside and in. Who could play Audrey Hepburn? No one.

Despite the other comments on this page -apparently submitted by the Jennifer Love Hewitt Appreciation Society (or the Denial of Terrible Movies society), there can be no doubt that "The Audrey Hepburn Story" is one of THE WORST movies ever made. Yes, no one could ever recapture the magic that was Audrey Hepburn, but for God's sake, why did they even try? From the shonky knockoffs of Givenchy gowns, to the blatant errors in the film recreations, to the extremely poor Bogart impersonator, this movie is so bad in fact, is is grotesquely fascinating.

And at the centre of it all we have Miss Hewitt herself, all stiff grey wigs (who designed THEM?!), phoney Continental accent and smug little smile. Honey, that your bust is a little larger than Audrey's should be the LEAST of your worries!!!

I shudder to think that future generations might stumble upon this cinematic travesty (OK, I know it was made for television) and take it as a serious tribute to the lovely Miss Hepburn. They will surely wonder what we all saw in her. But that will never happen. Audrey's movies will be remembered forever- long after this Z-grade piece of rubbish is consigned to pop-culture oblivion.

Take a bow, filmmakers. You've managed to reduce the life of one of the screen's most beloved icons to Audrey's one-note obsession with finding her father (how's *that* for a fresh idea!) and producing offspring.

To the sadly misguided Hewitt fans (you know who you are) who took it upon themselves to insult Audrey Hepburn in a vain attempt to make JLH look better, you ought to get your heads examined.

JLH you should be ashamed of yourself!!!! (I'm ashamed of myself too, that I actually took the time to write this thing for such a poorly acted, written and directed- not to mention every other aspect of production- waste of videotape.)

No actress, regardless of how bad or good they are or if they're neutral, would have done a better than adequate job of playing Audrey Hepburn. She was simply too unique, for better as much as for worse, for anybody to portray her better than adequately.

Honestly, Jennifer Love Hewitt (who was 19 during filming) did no better and no worse than any other actress would've done portraying Audrey Hepburn, who Jennifer portrayed from 17 years of age and older. She did as adequate a job as Sarah Hyland, who portrayed eight year of age Audrey Hepburn, and Emmy Rossum, who portrayed 12 to 16 year of age Audrey Hepburn. Sarah Hyland was eight during filming and Emmy Rossum was 12.

But poor Jennifer is the one who got such flack for it. Sarah and Emmy were basically unacknowledged for it, probably because Sarah was eight and Emmy was 12.

The movie basically covers many aspects of Audrey Hepburn's life from late 1937 at age eight until her untimely death from cancer in early 1993 before she would've been 64. I won't go through the laundry list of them.

Just watch to find out what they are as I don't want to spoil the movie for Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Hyland and Emmy Rossum fans who watch the movie. They're only people who should watch this movie, anyway.

Recommended only to Audrey Hepburn fans who are also fans of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Hyland and Emmy Rossum. The Audrey Hepburn Story was filmed in late 1998.