Mirror Has Two Faces, The (1996)

reviewed by
Berge Garabedian

THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES
RATING: 7 / 10 --> Good movie

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PLOT: A nerdy College professor believes that the perfect relationship between a man and a woman should be based entirely on matters other than physical attraction and sex. He decides to prove this theory to himself by choosing a physically unattractive woman as his companion. She also seems to agree with his theory but ultimately falls into the traps of the human heart.

CRITIQUE: Pleasant film with an interesting premise managed to keep me entertained through all of its lengthy runtime, which is a little over two hours, with some funny lines, original points of view on relationships, and a simple but applicable musical score. One of the only problems that I had with this film was the casting of Barbra Streisand as the "ugly ducking" woman. I would have rather seen an actress that would really have been able to alter herself much more for the ending, since I didn't find Barbra's changes to be more than just cosmetic. And to show her exercising in padded clothes, and then svelte in a tight black dress, is not a terribly convincing way to fool us into believing that she'd lost weight. Other than that, the film is fun to watch if you're interested in seeing this theory put into practice (This exercise was quite frustrating to Mrs. JoBlo), some fluffy romance, and an overly nerdy professor performance put forth by Jeff Bridges. Pierce Brosnan also has a throwaway role in this movie, and Lauren Bacall, despite her decent performance, showed me nothing worthy of all those Oscar calls back in 1996.

Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Dudley Moore was originally cast in the role that went to George Segal. "Creative differences" were cited for his reason for leaving. This film is a remake of the 1958 French film LE MIROIR A DEUX FACES.

Review Date:         February 7, 1999
Director:                 Barbra Streisand
Writer:                     Richard LaGrenevese
Producer:               Barbra Streisand and Arnon Milchan
Actors:                    Barbra Streisand as Rose Morgan, Jeff Bridges as
Gregory Larkin, Lauren Bacall as Hannah Morgan
Genre:                    Romance
Year of Release:  1996

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