‘Audrey Hepburn Story’ a Smart, Loving Tribute

Audrey Hepburn was the very embodiment of star quality--an intoxicating combination of great beauty (Those eyes! That neck!) and innate acting ability.

Beloved for her film work as well as her humanitarian efforts with UNICEF, she remains, seven years after her death, sacrosanct. So it takes a certain amount of chutzpah for ABC to air a TV movie about her; if fans find fault with tonight’s “The Audrey Hepburn Story,” with teen queen Jennifer Love Hewitt in the title role, their howls of protest will be heard from the Tiffany in Manhattan to the one in Beverly Hills.

Whatever lapses the fans might find, though, this three-hour film biography holds together as solid entertainment--due not only to the remarkable life that it chronicles but to a smart, well-crafted script by playwright Marsha Norman and a loving, luminous portrayal by Hewitt.

Focusing on the first half of Hepburn’s life, the movie is presented in flashback during filming of 1961’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Norman, known for her indelible women characters in such dramas as the Pulitzer Prize-winning “ ‘Night, Mother,” finds several compelling through lines in Hepburn’s life: the malnourished teenager who emerged from Germany’s occupation of Holland with a heightened zest for life and a desire to help others; the real-life Cinderella swiftly transformed into a star in Broadway’s “Gigi,” then the movie “Roman Holiday”; the actress beset by self-doubt who, through hard work and canny instinct, went on to inspire generations of girls that anything was possible.

Hewitt--known primarily for her appeal to young audiences in “Time of Your Life,” the new Fox drama built around her “Party of Five” character, and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” movies--believably approximates Hepburn’s flashing eyes and willowy grace, while nimbly conveying the script’s dualities. Her Hepburn is a lovely swan who fears she’s really an ugly duckling, deflecting praise and wryly poking fun of herself even as she wills herself to succeed.

Though the movie tends to sugarcoat Hepburn’s love life, it comes through with some earthy, honest scenes between her and her mother, a baroness abandoned by her husband and fallen on hard times who, as played by the wonderful Frances Fisher (“Titanic”), nevertheless retains both her warmth and majesty.

Director Steve Robman and cinematographer Pierre Letarte have sure pictorial instincts, though the final edit contains gaps here and there in the storytelling. Still, faults and all, this movie is sure to inspire you to head out to the local video store to collect titles for your own little Audrey Hepburn film festival--a marvelous result, no matter how you look at it.

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“The Audrey Hepburn Story” airs tonight at 8 on ABC. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).