A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Surprise! Great production numbers do not a great musical make! Like so many mediocre musicals, when the music stops, the story is lifeless in spite of a good supporting cast. It was the inevitable sequel to one of the best of its kind and did surprisingly good box office. James Caan is not Omar Sharif, although he is a good actor. While the Billy Rose songs are great, some of the new supporting songs don't measure up and sound like echos from "Funny Girl" or "Hello Dolly". The water ballet does not seem as impressive as it should be. (Yes, there really was such a show in Cleveland.) The best part of the movie is the "everything that could go wrong" run-thru of "Billy Roses Crazy Quilt". That was masterfully done and is hilarious. The last 20 minutes, which wrap everything up, are just terrible. I was left depressed and wanting more; like something was missing. "Funny Girl" was truly grand entertainment and this pales by comparison. However, the production numbers play far better on a large screen.(Note: the exterior for "NBC" was reused for "Xanadu" a few years later!)

While not without flaws Funny Girl was a wonderful film with Barbra Streisand boasting one of the finest film debuts ever. Funny Lady is nowhere near as good, but that doesn't mean it's bad because it's not. It has lovely costumes and sets, if not as opulent as those of Funny Girl, and the photography is mostly very nice, especially the use of Panavision in I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five and Ten Cent Store. Save a couple of exceptions, particularly in It's Gonna Be a Happy Day, the overuse of long shots gives it a rather chaotic look. The music is not as great as Funny Girl's, with the score being pleasant and paced well, and while none of the songs quite equal Don't Rain On My Parade or My Man they are fine on their equal, with the best being How Lucky Can You Get?, More Than You Know and I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five and Ten Cent Store. The script is amusing with a few sweet moments. Barbra is not as magical as she was in Funny Girl with Fanny having more of diva-ish attitude, but she manages the comic and dramatic(certainly better than in A Star is Born) moments very well and her singing is as gorgeous and impassioned as ever. James Caan is also good though with a character who's not easy to like at first, and they have an easy chemistry together. Omar Sharif is as charming as he was in Funny Girl, Roddy McDowell is underused but memorable and Ben Vereen has the chance to show some fancy footwork. Funny Lady is problematic, long shots overuse aside. The pacing does have a tendency to be elephantine, especially like in Funny Girl in the second half and the story is not as fun, as romantic or as touching as Funny Girl(they're evident just that Funny Girl had them much stronger) so it was not as easy to properly invest or engage with it. And if you thought the story and writing in Funny Girl was clichéd or contrived, and a fair few people do think that, Funny Lady does it worse. Herbert Ross's direction is rather clumsy as well, the direction in It's Gonna Be a Happy Day is particularly muddled and he does lose control of the story and its clichés at frequent points. Overall, a lacklustre sequel but a watchable one at least. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Ray Stark as son-in-law of Fanny Brice continued his wife's mother's saga in Funny Lady. This film picks up where Funny Girl left off with Fanny Brice now split with Nicky Arnstein and trying to carve a career out again. Barbra Streisand as Fanny is now facing the Depression and possible ruin. Performers like Eddie Cantor and Groucho Marx were ruined by the stock market crash. When we first meet her she's in the office of Bernard Baruch who is played by Larry Gates and a good friend to have in those times, she also by chance meets his former office boy and stenographer Billy Rose who's carving quite a career of his own now.Rose possibly because of his working with Bernard Baruch may have learned to stay out of the stock market, but he was a gambler, a conman, a promoter, all these requirements to be a Broadway producer. Apparently Brice had a thing for these kind of people. But Rose as played by James Caan isn't quite as smooth an article as former husband Nicky Arnstein.In real life these two knew each other and worked together before the show Crazy Quilt which was a flop on Broadway only running for 79 performances. That actually because 1931 was mid-Depression wasn't bad for the time. Still the way it was a flop is as funny as either a Mack Sennett short or an extended I Love Lucy episode, you take your choice.Omar Sharif appears again as Nicky Arnstein who Rose no matter what he does can't seem to compete against. Brice has gone on to radio and film, but still can't find the elusive personal happiness in her relationships. Her closest friend is Roddy McDowall, a fictional gay character brought into the story and he functions the way Daniel Massey does as Noel Coward in the Julie Andrews biographical film about Gertrude Lawrence, Star. Ben Vereen's character Bert Robbins is a combination of Bert Williams and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Bert Williams certainly did appear with Fanny Brice in the Ziegfeld Follies, but he died in 1922. Bill Robinson so far as I know never did work with Fanny Brice.One thing I do remember about Billy Rose, his name is on all kinds of song lyrics, a lot of which are incorporated here. Now his contributions to the writing of these songs is debatable, but he certainly could promote them, especially if they were part of a show he was doing. I do recall Vincent Youmans's family complaining bitterly about Funny Lady, saying he wrote the music for Great Day and More Than You Know and wasn't given a mention on screen.The original songs for Funny Lady were written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. One of the Oscar nominations that Funny Lady got was for Best Original Song, another Streisand classic How Lucky Can You Get. The song was done that year also in a duet album in a nice version by Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. The enduring popularity of the decade's greatest star Barbra Streisand appearing once again in the role that made her career, pre-sold Funny Lady to a built in audience. It holds up very well and Barbra has made Fanny Brice come alive again for another generation, even if there's more Barbra than Fanny in this film as opposed to Funny Girl.

Let me start by saying that I love this picture. Streisand takes on a role very different from the original 'Funny Girl.' She is very enduring throughout, but the reason that it, in my mind anyway, isn't as good is that, it was made very modern, songs were made to be popular for the time it was made, not as first written. This happens even today all over, but I think it takes away from the picture a little bit. The other thing you must realize is that, Fanny Brice, was a real person, this isn't fiction. Funny Girl is like a fairy tale, and Funny Lady, is what happens after. When I look at this only as a film, it lacks something, but when I look at it as reality, it seems more complete. I always keep reminding myself, that life is not a feature film, things aren't all pretty like they are on screen. I think that this picture shows you that, in it's own way. It's like on of those ultimate Hollywood backstage stories, like, all three versions of A Star is Born, only truer, and bluer. Over all, it is very well done, and I wouldn't want to take anything away from its viewing pleasure, Barbra Streisand, proves again and again, that she is screen worthy.