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Barbra Streisand made a more serious impression as a director with 1991's The Prince of Tides, a sensitive adult drama/romance that is far superior to her directorial debut in Yentl because Streisand has chosen to let go of her ego a bit and not let the entire film revolve around her and therefore produced quality entertainment that actually earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
Based on the runaway bestseller by Pat Conroy, this is the story of a guy named Tom Wingo, an unemployed teacher and football coach who lives on the South Carolina coastline, whose marriage is falling apart and learns that his twin sister, Savannah, has tried to commit suicide for the third time. At the bequest of his sister's psychiatrist, Tom travels to Manhattan to help the doctor learn more about Savannah in order to help her and ends up becoming romantically involved with the doctor.
Streisand has mounted an expensive and detailed look at a troubled family history...almost too troubled, it's almost hard to accept everything that happens to Tom, his brother, and his sister, but it does help to explain Savannah's terminal unhappiness, not to mention a detailed look at Lila Wingo, Tom's mother who appears to be a different kind of woman in every scene in which she appears...when she's with her children, she appears to be a confident and self-assured woman but at home with her abusive husband, she appears to be completely helpless, except for when she fixes him a dinner made out of dog food. We learn initially that Tom hates his mother, but in the flashback sequences Tom seems to think the sun and the moon sets on her. There's a lot of contradictory emotions presented here that sometimes makes it hard to invest in what's going on.
Streisand did strike gold with the casting of Nick Nolte in the role of Tom, a performance that effortlessly blends strength and sensitivity and earned Nolte an Oscar nomination. Kate Nelligan's quietly powerful turn as Lila Wingo earned her an Oscar nomination as well. Blythe Danner has some effective moments as Tom's wife, Sally, as does Jeroen Krabbe as Streisand's philandering husband. Jason Gould, Streisand's real life son, also appears as her son here, who develops a relationship with Tom that is one of the more entertaining and believable aspects of the film. The only performance I found a bit troubling was Streisand's as Dr. Susan Lowenstein...I just think Streisand let her ego get the best of her here because I just didn't buy her as a psychiatrist nor did I buy into the romance with Nolte's character, which just came off as forced and something that was enhanced for the purpose of making this story more entertaining to movie audiences. The film is worth watching thanks primarily to Nolte and Streisand's direction, which actually earned her a nomination.
Barbra Streisand made a more serious impression as a director with 1991's The Prince of Tides, a sensitive adult drama/romance that is far superior to her directorial debut in Yentl because Streisand has chosen to let go of her ego a bit and not let the entire film revolve around her and therefore produced quality entertainment that actually earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
Based on the runaway bestseller by Pat Conroy, this is the story of a guy named Tom Wingo, an unemployed teacher and football coach who lives on the South Carolina coastline, whose marriage is falling apart and learns that his twin sister, Savannah, has tried to commit suicide for the third time. At the bequest of his sister's psychiatrist, Tom travels to Manhattan to help the doctor learn more about Savannah in order to help her and ends up becoming romantically involved with the doctor.
Streisand has mounted an expensive and detailed look at a troubled family history...almost too troubled, it's almost hard to accept everything that happens to Tom, his brother, and his sister, but it does help to explain Savannah's terminal unhappiness, not to mention a detailed look at Lila Wingo, Tom's mother who appears to be a different kind of woman in every scene in which she appears...when she's with her children, she appears to be a confident and self-assured woman but at home with her abusive husband, she appears to be completely helpless, except for when she fixes him a dinner made out of dog food. We learn initially that Tom hates his mother, but in the flashback sequences Tom seems to think the sun and the moon sets on her. There's a lot of contradictory emotions presented here that sometimes makes it hard to invest in what's going on.
Streisand did strike gold with the casting of Nick Nolte in the role of Tom, a performance that effortlessly blends strength and sensitivity and earned Nolte an Oscar nomination. Kate Nelligan's quietly powerful turn as Lila Wingo earned her an Oscar nomination as well. Blythe Danner has some effective moments as Tom's wife, Sally, as does Jeroen Krabbe as Streisand's philandering husband. Jason Gould, Streisand's real life son, also appears as her son here, who develops a relationship with Tom that is one of the more entertaining and believable aspects of the film. The only performance I found a bit troubling was Streisand's as Dr. Susan Lowenstein...I just think Streisand let her ego get the best of her here because I just didn't buy her as a psychiatrist nor did I buy into the romance with Nolte's character, which just came off as forced and something that was enhanced for the purpose of making this story more entertaining to movie audiences. The film is worth watching thanks primarily to Nolte and Streisand's direction, which actually earned her a nomination.