I am never sure which Breakfast at Tiffany's is. I can certainly think of movies which more accurately portray the human condition, but of few that are more fun.

Neither Holly nor Paul seem to represent real people. Their attraction, which is the focal point of the movie, is a character unto itself. Paul sees Holly as scared, vulnerable, and in need of rescue and enjoys his role as potential knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress. She is drawn to him because he sees beyond her facade of fabulousness to the scared little girl she is inside and which she tries (not that hard really at all) to hide. Adding to her attraction to him is the fact that he stands up to her when she treats him shoddily. This probably does not happen to her too often, and it intrigues her.

These are mostly the tricks a romance novelist uses to keep readers baited and rooting for a fictional, possibly doomed romance to work and do not reflect the real nature of love. There is, however, enough chemistry, genuine affection, and respect between the two characters to keep the story from seeming utterly implausible.

Of course, a movie doesn't have to be realistic to realistically portray what is right and what is wrong with the world we live in. Breakfast at Tiffany's doesn't do a whole lot of that either, though. After watching I can never pinpoint one solid message from it.

What it does have a lot of, as many others have pointed out, is stylish, witty, good fun. This is almost always the movie I choose on the rare occasions when my husband is working late, my son is asleep, I have energy to spare and good bottle of wine just begging to be uncorked. Believable or not, it is well-told and compelling, and remains one of the better movies a gal can lose herself in.

I've been catching up on Audrey Hepburn movies lately, and of course this is the best remembered of the lot. It's a super-stylish romantic comedy in the days when the genre still elicited laughs, rather than the groans coming out of cineplexes these days.

My problem with BREAKFAST IS TIFFANY'S lies in the script, which presents the Hepburn character as one of those annoyingly air-headed bimbos who spends the whole film at the mercy of her own ignorance. There's nothing wrong with Hepburn, who nails the character perfectly, just the slightly irritating childlike persona. She's not really a person to fall in love with, more like somebody who needs sectioning.

Still, the rest of the film is well-made, beautifully shot and rather effective, and the sweet, good-natured comedy works well. It's rare for me to see George Peppard in a romantic role, but he acquits himself well with the material. This certainly isn't my favourite Hepburn movie - I can't help but feeling it's slightly overrated - but on the other hand I can see why it's regarded as a classic by most.