The Prince of Tides
THE PRINCE OF TIDES (15)
D: Barbra Streisand
Columbia/Barwood/Longfellow (Barbra Streisand & Andrew
Karsch)
US 1991
132 mins
Drama/Romance
W: Pat Conroy & Becky Johnston [based on the novel by
Pat Conroy]
DP: Stephen Goldblatt
Ed: Don Zimmerman
Mus: James Newton Howard
PD: Paul Sylbert
Nick Nolte (Tom Wingo), Barbra Streisand (Dr.
Susan Lowenstein), Blythe Danner (Sallie Wingo), Kate Nelligan (Lila Wingo-Newbury), Jeroen Krabbe (Herbert Woodruff), Melinda Dillon (Savannah Wingo), George Carlin (Eddie
Detreville), Jason Gould (Bernard Woodruff), Brad Sullivan (Henry Wingo)
A moving and incredibly well-acted drama which felt in
desperate need of a different director.
Nick Nolte gives one of his best ever screen performances
as a retired American football player who becomes romantically involved with a psychiatrist helping him through a family tragedy.
Nolte, Kate Nelligan and Blythe Danner are all very good,
but the weak link is most certainly Barbra Streisand, not particularly convincing in the female lead, but especially with her self-indulgent direction, focusing more on her appearance and
perfectly manicured fingernails rather than the drama in the story. There is an exception to this during the film's flashback scenes, which are particularly well handled and
photographed.
7/10
