(Steve Rudd.19/4/01)
|
|
|
| Barbara Streisand�s �MIRROR HAS TWO FACES� similarly weighs up the �Does sex overcomplicate issues of the heart?� dilemma, as Rob Reiner�s romantic-comedy fest �When Harry Met Sally� so influentially did in 1989. Big bad Babs herself is the �ugly duckling� leadlady, getting-to-know Jeff �The Contender� Bridges, who wants nothing more than true friendship out of their common interest-graced relationship. Bridges is a boring but handsome Math lecturer, while Streisand�s a confident & feverishly fun lecturer �on how (love) life is� yet painfully insecure about her looks. Essentially set-up by her glamourous yet shallow sister, the 2 middle-aged loners seek intellectual stimulation morning, evening and night - yet she increasingly desires blinding bedroom action, and so foolishly seduces (or tries to) her so-called husband, as out of a Blue movie/ Room. But Bridges does not like that!, and shoots off without a word of his whereabouts, leaving Babs to wallow in that awful �not knowing where she stands� inconvenience. But, ultimately (and to the cheesy strains of Bryan Adams� big-hit �I Finally Found Someone�), he rushes back into her life (with her suddenly looking sexier than ever), exchanging true �Harry and Sally� apologetic manners, Jeff sweeping her off her feet to chuck her over the threshold of his so-far repressed sexual desires. Commercially, not massive or unanimously acclaimed, it�s a long haul, but each scene bristles with genuine emotion and spot-on, apathy-devaluing dialogue. Seems to me it�s one of last decade�s great under-rated and lesser-appraised movies, not just in the luvvy-duvvy romantic-drama stakes, but as a general, brilliantly-produced movie of a bold, honest stature. Bridges (nothing new here) and Babs are both revelations. (Steve Rudd.19/4/01) |
||