The Prince of Tides (1991)

Nick Nolte and his sister are damaged goods, but they don't know why. When the sister goes into therapy, Nolte's Tom Wingo meets the therapist played by Barbra Streisand. She is in an loveless relationship with an arrogant concert violinist husband. Wingo gets a second lease on life when he helps with the development of Streisand's son, teaching him "boy" things. The thing that keeps this going, however, is the secret that lies in the subconsciouses of the siblings. This succeeds because it is not clichéd with a pat kind of conclusion. The world is not simple and the issues here are not simple, and the solutions don't come cheaply.

Directed by Barbra Streisand, "The Prince of Tides" stars Nick Nolte as Tom Wingo, a man whose dysfunctional childhood has left him with severe psychological scars. When his sister attempts suicide, Tom comes into contact with Susan Lowenstein (Streisand), a psychologist with domestic problems of her own. The film was adapted from a novel by Pat Conroy."The Prince of Tides" is channelling the Southern Gothic fiction of Tennessee Wiliams and William Faulkner. In this regard, Streisand's film is proudly melodramatic, overcooked and larger-than-life. There's no subtlety here, just one ridiculously bombastic moment after the other. Whilst this is the film's largest flaw, it's also its biggest asset; southern melodrama has always tended towards the voluptuous. With fine performances by a scenery chewing Nolte and an austere Blythe Danner.7/10 – Worth one viewing. See "The Beguiled".

Superb 1991 under Barbra Streisand's direction depicts Nick Nolte, a southern guy who comes up to New York following the attempted suicide of his sister. There he meets her therapist played by Streisand. It turns up that each of the characters have their own hangups and inter- relate so as to improve the very existence of their lives.Nolte's outbursts and emotion as he recounts his very dysfunctional family and one tragedy after another is memorable. Streisand does an admirable job in the role of the therapist.Kate Nelligan was perfect as the mother with her own agenda. It is amazing that the family survived at all given all the problems in their daily lives. They really didn't miss anything.The backdrops of Charleston, South Carolina and our New York City serve to promote the cultural differences and yet the human relations that ultimately endure.

I've had mixed reactions to Nick Nolte's work over the years. Some of his movies I've quite enjoyed; others I think have been disasters. As far as his performances go, I've usually found him good but never quite reaching the heights of greatness. But then there's "The Prince Of Tides." Barbra Streisand might have produced, directed and co-starred, but this is Nick Nolte's movie from beginning to end, and his performance is absolutely brilliant. He captures his character's complexities perfectly - his repressed emotions, his unwillingness to face conflict or trouble and eventually his underlying pain in a powerful scene in which the family secret is finally revealed. Streisand as director does a good job of building up to that revelation; Streisand as co-star is just that - a good partner for Nolte who's wise enough and confident enough in herself to let him carry the movie.The story - revolving around Tom Wingo (Nolte) travelling to New York from his beloved southern home to be with his sister who's just attempted suicide - is rather heavy at times. With the sister's suicide attempt and the general dysfunction all the lead characters deal with, it had something of an "Ordinary People" feel to it, although the conclusion is more hopeful than that film was. The viewer is drawn into the story right away with a surprisingly effective opening narration by Nolte that intrigues us, the movie ends on the perfect note of reconciliation within Tom's family and a powerful closing narration by Nolte. Music doesn't usually make or break a movie for me, but kudos to James Newton Howard, who was responsible for the original music. It was absolutely perfect - it suited the movie superbly and was itself very moving. The movie weakens a little bit after the revelation of the secret, mainly because it turns a bit "sappy" as Tom and Lowenstein (Streisand) become romantically involved. You could see that coming from the start, but I found it unnecessary - in fact, the whole angle of Tom's growing relationship with Lowenstein (and her son, and her husband) was perhaps an unnecessary diversion. Still, one can't deny the basic power of the story or the strength of the performances. 9/10