dantelerner
First of all, I wanna say I saw this awful movie because it streamed no Netflix and it said it was a romantic comedy. Well it's not. Just because it has some "funny" jokes doesn't mean it has to be a comedy. It should be porn or something. It should be called "Sex and crying then more sex and more they end up together". 3 stars for Barb. 1 for George Segal. 1 for Lauren Bacall.
Dee Mou
I'm a big fan of the Bridges family and have seen a ton of their movies since I was really little. We were marginal Streisand fans based on the fact that she'd worked with a close relative on a number of films, but when this film was being made in NYC I got a call from my sister that she was put out of her job at the bookstore where two weeks of filming were being conducted because someone had told Streisand that there was an employee who looked just like her. (Sorry babs, but my sister looks much nicer than you do and doesn't have the attitude.) Anyway, we all boycotted the film when it came out in solidarity for my sister's two week lay off, which was Streisand's special request to the owners of the bookstore.Moving right along to the movie... I finally saw it on Netflix. (1) The bookstore scene isn't even in the film -- HAH! (2) The film is a very flimsy excuse to show off the "makeover" Streisand because the plot of the film is really ridiculous. (3) Those of us who know Columbia campus know all the other things that are wrong with the movie.In general, the movie is about two geeks -- one math (Bridges) and one english (Streisand) -- who are Columbia professors who can't seem to get their acts together to find a compatible companion. The English professor's gorgeous sister posts an online dating profile after several scenes where the professor's weight and dull looks are repeatedly stressed (dead horse anyone?). Similarly, The Math professor is in a dating rut, stuck with women who leave him because he is dull, etc. and their beauty has a negative psychological effect he decides he wants to avoid, so as part of a sociological experiment he decides to accept a colleague's advice and visits the online dating site, where he finds (fat, dull) Streisand. From there the obvious rom-com-dram unfolds. What's unclear is why the film is so long, why everyone in the film has to make such a big deal about looks (even though every actress in the film EXCEPT FOR LAUREN BACALL looks hideously past her prime). Enough already.The three stars get split between Bridges and Bacall just for being who they are. Such a waste of a good cast... and of my Netflix.
bkoganbing
The Mirror Has Two Faces is one of those old fashioned romance stories, in which Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges prove that love can be had in middle age and romance might even be better at that point.Both Streisand and Bridges are a pair of Columbia University professors, she of English, him of Mathematics. They've come to opposite conclusions about life and love. Barbra wants some love in her life, but Bridges having been burned a little too often in relationships is swearing off sex. I like what director Streisand did with Bridges's character. I can identify with the students in his class, you spell it B-O-R-I-N-G. There are some people who are turned on by math, I'm not one of them. I sat through too many teachers who could not pique my interest in the slightest and many who were like Bridges as Barbra describes him, having his own math party at the blackboard. No one ever made it relevant for me in my academic career.Barbra didn't do too bad with the rest of the cast which includes her mother Lauren Bacall, her sister Mimi Rogers, her wolfish brother-in-law Pierce Brosnan, best friend Brenda Vaccaro, and Bridges best friend George Segal who is a cheerful middle aged hedonist and loving every minute of it.Lauren Bacall got her one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and I thought sure she would cap her career with that Oscar. She lost to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient. But Bacall is absolutely stunning as the mother who Barbra convinces that her life isn't over either.For the acclaim it got, The Mirror Has Two Faces should have gotten a lot more, including a Best Director nomination for Barbra Streisand. And this review is dedicated to all of us who had to sit through a boring professor having his own private math party at the blackboard.
foxycat-1
I just saw this film again the first time since 1996. The production values for this film were great, but the sentiments are false. First I have to say that the acting is superb, especially Streisand and Bacall. Their mother-daughter revelation scene is wonderful, a gem shared by 2 consummate actresses.Here's the dishonesty: In the first half, we see that everyone who's attractive is also defective in some way. Husband is a jerk, sexless, a bore, mother jealous and vain, sister has no personality. In fact, why is Streisand so madly in love with a man who's such a jerk? Streisand shines as funny, intelligent, personable, well-liked by everyone. And our view of what's pretty has changed a lot since Streisand came along in the 60's. Meryl Streep's long nose or Jolie's oversize lips would never have been acceptable before Streisand. OK, she doesn't know how to dress, but is certainly printed as attractive. The camera, as usual, loves her. And in real life Streisand has always been attractive to attractive men.After showing us that physical beauty is not that important, the film then goes on to prove that the same woman, made more physically beautiful, can now attract her cold jerk of a husband and her sister's shallow ex. Husband even tells her that he's always found her sexy, it's just that he hadn't been interested. Such inconsistency in the writing.
AD
