I can't help but wonder how good this film may have been had it had another director, maybe one more attentive to the nature of the story. Instead, actress/singer/director Barbara Streisand helms this picture, and she does a lot more damage than good. Instead of creating a film that is rooted in raw emotion and heartbreaking tragedy she turns this film into a longwinded soap opera with over-the-top acting and `romance novel' style dialog. In fact, the last quarter of the film is so ridiculous that I seriously wanted to vomit amidst all the saccharine facileness.

The film tells the story of Tom Wingo, a southern `good ol' boy' who is troubled by a dark family secret, a secret that has pushed his sister to attempt suicide. While she lies in a hospital room, Tom ventures to New York and meets his sister's psychiatrist Susan. Tom is apposed to his sister seeing a shrink, but the more he sees Susan the more he begins to open up, about his life, his wife, his mother and eventually uncovering the family secret that has haunted him for so many years.

The idea behind the film is a good one in my opinion (I have not read the book, although I don't hear good things about it so I don't think I will) but the handling of the material really sidelines the film in my opinion. Instead of taking a raw and emotional approach to the film, the soap operaish delivery makes light of the tragedy surrounding the film and ultimately turns the serious subject of abuse, suicide and murder into a joke. All of this weighty material is more or less just a backdrop for Tom and Susan to fall in love and in the end the film makes their relationship the weightiest subject; expecting the audience to swell up with tears at the prospect of them having to leave one another as apposed to the audience being emotionally responsive to the turmoil boiling within Tom's past.

The acting doesn't really help the matter.

I am not a fan of Nick Nolte. I never have been and never will be. He has really only delivered a few (countable on one hand) good performances, and this is not one of them. His over-the-top delivery of Tom's emotions is comical to say the least. He has one good scene, when he finally breaks down and exposes his past. It's the only scene where his emotions seem real, and it's the only respectable `scene' in the film (which ends up getting ruined by the overly sentimental `cry in my bosom' closing). Streisand is better than Nolte, but too clichéd. The only good acting comes from the supporting cast, notably Blythe Danner (who is sorely underused) and Kate Nelligan (who received an Oscar nomination for her performance). They are not enough to save the film, but they at least prove to add some interest to their scenes.

In the end I can honestly say that `The Prince of Tides' is a missed opportunity, which I think is what makes the sting of the films failure hurt all the more. It could have been so deep and haunting but instead comes off vapid and hollow.

I haven't read the book, so my review is based solely on the movie.
I avoided watching it for a long time because I had read so many conflicting reviews. I now realize that every negative review I read has one or both of the following in common: The reviewer hates Barbra Streisand, or the reviewer thinks that, if the movie doesn't follow the book exactly, the movie is bad. Occasionally, someone will mention something else, such as a dislike of Nick Nolte or of George Carlin, but most of the negative reviews are based in those first two biases.

Fortunately, I admire Ms. Streisand, and I understand that a movie must, by its very nature, differ from the book it is based on. In some cases (High Fidelity, for example--wonderful movie, terrible book), the movie is better.

In this case, the author of The Prince of Tides co-wrote the script, so he had every opportunity to make sure that the story he was telling was true to his book, even if it wasn't a blow-by-blow exact replica.

I am so glad I saw this movie. I feel as though my life is enriched because of it. From the opening moments, I knew I was in very capable hands. The acting, directing, photography, dialog--everything in this movie is among the best there is. There is not one false step in this movie.

A lot is said in finely nuanced facial expressions and through body language--the kind of acting that is a notch above ordinary fare. Some of the topics dealt with are quite intense, and yet somehow Barbra Streisand as a director manages to handle them deftly, neither overdramatizing them nor underplaying their significance. This movie deserved every Academy nomination it got, plus one for director, and should have won far more than it did. Kudos and many thanks to Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte for this gem.

The Prince of Tides starring and directed by Barbra Streisand is a moving story. Nick Nolte is perfection in this film, I love the character development and layout. This movie is so sad and draining but the end results was totally worth it, you've got to see this one! Enjoy.

I think this movie is Streisand's masterpiece. It is very good and the story is very well developed. The acting from all parties is terrific and the direction by Streisand is wonderful. I saw this film when it first came out and enjoyed it very much. I know that many people who read the book were not happy but I think she pared down the book to a very manageable size. I highly recommend it.

I'm a little late, but I just finished watching Prince of Tides, not to be confused with The Fisher King, for the first time yesterday. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. For a film directed by and starring outrageously liberal Barbra Streisand, you'd think the whole film would be about abortions and homosexuality! Well, homosexuality does play a factor so I guess I'm not that surprised, but even with a Bush in the White House at the time it was made, every other sentence wasn't about a war for oil! Could it be true, were liberals at one time actually able to separate their ideology from their art?!

In this film, Tom and his 2 siblings grew up on an island in the South where their father owned a shrimping business. He was abusive and temperamental, and the mother was lying and manipulative, so in short they were your average family. His sister, Savanna grew up to be a suicidal poet, think Sylvia Plath, and his bro tried to stage a one-man coup and didn't succeed, think Al Gore. After Savannah's most recent attempt to knock herself off, Tom is summoned by her psychiatrist Dr. Lowenstein. In order to help her cure his sister, he has to delve into the family's past and reveal some troubling family secrets.

George Carlin was given the opportunity to play himself for once in the role of Savannah's flaming neighbor. I'm pleased he came out of the closet and became honest with himself about his sexuality, if even for this one role.

Dr. Lowenstein is played by Babs Streisand and I have to admit when she's acting like a lady and not screaming about George Bush she's actually...cute?...feminine? I actually found myself rooting for Tom when he was trying to make his moves on her.

What I don't understand is how Tom's revealing every embarrassing detail about his family is crucial to Savannah's recovery: she spends the whole film in a coma! Only near the end does she snap out of it; she must have sensed Tom's spilling the beans about their "dark secret" and awoke like Lady Lazarus. As the story of their childhood unfolds, Tom and Lowenstein start to fall in love with each other, and since they both have such awful marriages they decide to take a crack at an affair, but this happens much later. Certain subplots include Tom coaching Lowenstein's son in football and Tom visits his parents(now separated).

I think the ending drug a little to be honest, but not too bad. It just seems like Tom should have revealed the deep dark family secret closer to the end, instead it's like we got a premature climax here and afterwards Tom and Babs romp in a field for half an hour. The ending also could have packed a little more punch, like at the train station when Tom says "I got something for you!" and pulls a football out of his Macy's bag. It would have been so much more extreme if he'd pulled out an assault rifle and opened fire on the crowd, then firing his gun in the air ala Rambo while screaming "LOWENSTEIN! LOWENSTEIN!" Now that would have been a truly epic ending.