Directed by: Barbra Streisand
Starring: Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, George Carlin, Blythe Danner, Melinda Dillon, Kate Nelligan, Brad Sullivan, Jeroen Krabbe, Jason Gould
If The Prince of Tides stuck primarily to its main plot instead of splintering off into various subplots that distract from the film, then it would have been a remarkably emotional achievement. Anchored by Nick Nolte's strongest performance of his career, The Prince of Tides works best when dealing with the deep wounds suffered by Tom Wingo (Nolte) and his siblings caused by years of physical and psychological abuse from their childhood. The movie also shoehorns in a lifeless romance between Tom and his psychiatrist (Streisand), Tom coaching football to Streisand's spoiled son, Tom's home woes with his estranged wife, and plenty of violin playing. It is at least thirty minutes too long, with the inevitable, dull romance between Nolte and Streisand taking up most of that time.
The Prince of Tides begins with Tom, an unemployed former South Carolina teacher, receiving news of his sister's latest suicide attempt. She survives, but is catatonic and her psychiatrist Susan Lowenstein (Streisand) asks Tom to come to New York and assist in her therapy. In his sessions with Susan, Tom reveals deep pain from years of physical and psychological abuse caused by his parents and even outsiders. We see the abuse take place in flashbacks which generate great power. Tom's father Henry (Sullivan) is a low-class fisherman with a temper, while his mother Lila (Nelligan) looks to trade up and snag a rich, high-society husband. Nothing will stand in her way, least of all her children. Other events occur and are slowly revealed to provide the full picture as to why Tom is miserable and estranged from his family. On the surface, Tom is friendly and outgoing, masking his pain as he has done since he was a little boy. Nolte expertly shows us this duality with a cheerful exterior and hurts bubbling just under the surface.
Tom's sessions with Susan are the best parts of the movie. Once we accept that the leggy Streisand, who never met a short skirt she didn't like, as a psychiatrist, then we are able to proceed on. We learn Susan is in a loveless marriage herself and has a resentful son who is forced to play violin like his father, a famed violinist (Krabbe). Tom agrees to coach football to the uncoordinated son and they learn to like each other, but how much does this really add to the movie? Susan's son, Bernard, is played by Streisand's real-life son Jason Gould.
Tom is attracted to Susan and vice-versa, leading to the perfunctory romance that takes place long after the movie should have been over. Throughout the film, Susan prods Tom to learn to show his emotions by crying, as if a long, cathartic weeping will forever cure him of his ills. The scene in which he finally breaks down is touching, but is that all it takes to fix Tom? Is he suddenly a happier guy? The movie's pop psychology would have you think so. In real life, such a breakthrough would be a beginning, not an end of the therapy.
Perhaps the Pat Conroy novel on which The Prince of Tides is based had all of these needless subplots, but the movie would have been better off without them. Streisand is an able director and the movie is lovingly shot and scored (even if the score is a mite overwrought). The performances, especially Nolte's and Nelligan's as his cruel, cold mother are strong. Sullivan may appear one-dimensional and cartoonish in the early going as the father, but he has a quiet scene with his son later on in which he connects with him while discussing baseball. They exchange looks of love and forgiveness. The movie could have benefited from more of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment