The Prince of Tides

Plot synopsis:
Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte), a teacher and football coach from South Carolina, is asked by his mother, Lila, to travel to New York to help his twin sister's psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), after his sister Savannah's (Melinda Dillon) latest suicide attempt. Tom hates New York but reluctantly accepts, largely to take the opportunity to be alone and away from a life that does not satisfy him. During his initial meetings with Lowenstein, Tom is reluctant to disclose many details of their dysfunctional family's secrets. In flashbacks, Tom relates incidents from his childhood to Lowenstein in hopes of discovering how to save Savannah's life. The Wingo parents were an abusive father and an overly proud, status-hungry mother. The father was a shrimp boat operator and, despite being successful at that profession, spent all of his money on frivolous business pursuits, leaving the family in poverty.
Tom is also torn with his own problems, but hides behind what he calls "the Southern way"; i.e., laughing about everything. For example, his wife Sallie is having an affair and her lover wants to marry her. Tom and Lowenstein begin having feelings for each other. After Tom discovers that she is married to Herbert Woodruff, a famous concert violinist, Lowenstein introduces Tom to her son Bernard (Jason Gould), who is being groomed to become a musician as well but who secretly wants to play football. Tom starts coaching Bernard along with attending sessions with Lowenstein to help his sister. Tom discovers that Savannah has been in such a dissociated state that she even had a different identity, Renata Halpern. As Halpern, she wrote books to disguise the Savannah side of her troubled life. Tom confronts Lowenstein over not revealing this information before and they argue, during which she throws a dictionary at him. To apologize, she asks him to dinner and their relationship becomes closer.
Tom has a fateful meeting with his mother and stepfather, bringing up painful memories. Tom reveals that, when he was 13 years old, three escaped convicts invaded his home and raped him, along with his mother and sister. His older brother, Luke, killed two of the aggressors with a shotgun, while his mother stabbed the third with a kitchen knife. They buried the bodies beneath the house and never spoke of it again. Tom suffers a mental breakdown, having now let loose a key piece of Savannah's troubled life. After a session of football, Herbert orders Bernard to return to his music lessons and prepare to leave for Tanglewood. Tom is invited to a dinner at Lowenstein's home, along with poets and intellectuals. Herbert is overtly rude and reveals that Tom's sister is in therapy with his wife. Infuriated, Lowenstein voices her suspicions about her husband's affairs. Tom takes Herbert's "million dollar" violin and threatens to throw it off the balcony unless Herbert apologizes.
Tom spends a romantic weekend with Lowenstein at her country house, both already falling in love at this point. Savannah recovers and is released from the hospital. This recovery is due to finally learning about things she has repressed from her childhood, most notably the rapes. Her first suicide attempt at age 13 was after the rapes and murders of the three convicts. Tom then receives a call from his wife who has finally decided she wants him back. He loves Lowenstein and his wife both, but 'has loved his wife longer, not more', he tells Lowenstein. He returns home, not being a man to abandon his wife and three daughters, wishing that two lives could be given to each man and woman. He's happy in his renewed life, after finally working out the traumatic events in his past, thanks to Lowenstein, but thinks of her daily as he reaches the top of the bridge on his drive home from work. Her name comes to him as a kind of prayer, a blessing.

Tags: melodrama, flashback, home movie

Review:
I avoided this movie because I did not care to see a romance involving Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte.
Sincere, generally well-crafted story about the far-reaching effects of childhood trauma, lovingly directed by Streisand and grounded by Nick Nolte's profoundly moving performance..
Despite a rather protracted love story and one too many climaxes, Streisand, who also co-stars, never loses sight of the novel's primary intent.Streisand graciously hands the spotlight over to actor Nick Nolte, who gives the most sensitive, emotionally complex performance of his varied career.
Eventually, Tom, who lacks faith in psychiatry, finds himself facing his own demons as these initial discussions about Savannah take a suddenly dramatic and romantic turn.In addition to Nolte's Oscar-nominated showcase, much of the film's strength lies in the highly concentrated flashback sequences as Tom recalls his turbulent family life.
On a brighter note, Jason Gould (Barbra's real-life son) acquits himself surprisingly well in the difficult role of Lowenstein's antagonistic son who slowly bonds with Tom's absentee father figure -- showing for once that nepotism isn't necessarily blind or reckless.
Nick Nolte's bookend narration is perfect as well -- warm, wise, poetic and reflective.And so, despite the flaws "The Prince of Tides" may have, Streisand certainly shows that her heart was in the right place..
Its rhythm, cinematography and casting is perfect and the story never fails to deliver.Tom Wingo, played by Nolte in an all-time best for him, has to go to New York to help his twin sister, Savannah Wingo, played by Melinda Dillon who has attempted suicide for the umpteenth time.
However with the love for his sister and the encouragement of her psychiatrist, Lowenstein, played by Streisand, the truth begins to unfold along with a love between Lowenstein and Tom who are both in unhappy marriages.There are no easy solutions here to the many issues that are raised, suffice is to say that Streisand, who also directs, keeps a gentle hand in and does not wham home any major emotional points.
Barbra Streisand was fantastic as the psychiatrist who had her own secrets, and her son Jason was terrific as the rebellious son who wanted to please his father, but who needed to find himself by taking on the challenge of playing football.
Nick Nolte's acting is excellent and I can't think of any actor who can play his role as Tom. For those of you who never seen this film, The Prince of Tides is a drama that tackles family, time and emotions.
The movie should have focused solely on the psychological make-up of the Nick Nolte character, Tom, or of his mother.
It's not just a funny or boring one, it really has something to tell all of us.I do also feel that it shows the southern way of life in a very true manner although it can be strange compared to other places in the US we really here get to see what the southern parts of US is all about.Barbra Streisand also in this film, as in all other ones where she appaears, is great; that lady really has talent and she knows it!
I personally really like Barbra Streisand, and I think that this is a very good movie, even if not particularly for her own presence.
The entire cast is good, especially Nick Nolte, who is very believable and delivers a great performance.
Like most of movies where Streisand has a stake as a director and/or producer, she ruins a film that had a lot of potential.
I would have expected him to say something more of a summary to the movie, not 'Lowenstein, Lowenstein'...I almost screamed.3)  Sad to say, but of a cast so full of stars, Nick Nolte is the only one who gives an effective, powerful performance.
The powerhouse performance by Nolte as a man troubled by his past carries this film version of the Pat Conroy novel, as brought to the screen by Streisand.
Streisand played Susan Lowenstein wonderfully, and I haven't seen a better performance from Nick Nolte playing Tom Wingo.
It all begins as an examination of a suicidal woman's life, but quickly turns into a romance between her brother (Nick Nolte) and the woman's psychiatrist (Streisand).
Tom Wingo(Nick Nolte) goes to new york after he is told that his sister, Savannah (Melinda Dillon)has tried to commit suicide.
He meets with her psychiatrist (Barbra Streisand)who is trying to find out background on Savannah to try and find out what happened in her past to make her want to end her life.We find out that Tom has a lot of secrets regarding his past and that he came from an abusive southern family.Tom and Susan become friends and he starts coaching her son Bernard(Jason Gould) Bernard's father and Susans unloving husband (Jerone Krabbe)is excellent as the disapproving father.
Kate Nelligan, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner and Barbra Streisand are giving this movie a fantastic cast, put that together with the story and the incredible good filmmaker eye of Ms. Streisand and you have one of the best movies of the 1990's.
I absolutely loved this movie when I first saw it Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand had great chemistry throughout!
The Prince of Tides falls down because Streisand turns this film into Nolte and her getting it on.
Nick Nolte was the reason I watched this movie for the first time and didn't know what to expect.
Neither does Tom Wingo(Nick Nolte) who has gone to New York where he meets a psychiatrist called Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), hoping he can give her useful information about the reason of his sister's continual committing suicide.
Without the singing (in fact, Streisand intentionally uses an instrumental version of the movie's theme song instead of the soundtrack's vocal one so as not to "detract from the film's message") and with her ego still almost in check, "Tides" falls kind of flat.
Nolte is actually quite good - his (deservedly) Oscar-nominated performance goes a long way toward redeeming this film.
Her direction and performance in this film are wonderful, and at points flawed, but not very often.Nick Nolte's portrayal of Tom Wingo is amazing.
I've read only one other Pat Conroy novel, the excellent Beach Music, and I was expecting a masterpiece with Prince of Tides, given the brilliance of the movie but I was wrong.
Barbra Streisand, as great a job of acting as she did in this movie, was not the correct casting choice for Susan Lowenstein.
And now follows a second review.Right at the very beginning of the movie, Nick Nolte, in a voice-over as Tom Wingo, supposes that his father Henry Wingo might have been a pretty good father if he hadn't been such a violent man...Ya Think???It only gets worse, dysfunctional family-wise.
Tom comes to New York to offer insights into his sister's behavior to the psychiatrist, played by Barbra Streisand, who does a decent job although she would not have been my choice for the role.
The book is an intricately detailed story of a nearly psychotic family, and so, so much was left out of this production that ripped its guts out it became almost unwatchable for me (for example, in the book, the climax of the story comes near the end, as Luke self-destructs; the family rape scene is really only a build up to the final catastrophe.)Why does Barbra feel like she has to completely fill up the screen with her presence in every film she makes??(See "Nuts" as a prime example of this).
Nick Nolte was absolutely, as People Magazine noted that year, the Sexiest Man Alive in this flick but even he couldn't compete with Barbra Streisand.
Who else but Barbra would cut the choicest supporting female role in the story (the mad sister who Melinda Dillon could have done to perfection)to less than 10 minutes of screen time?Who else but Barbra would hire a great actress like Blythe Danner only to cut her scenes down to the minimum number of seconds needed to be seen?
It is a tribute to Ms. Danner that she manages to create a character all the same, believable and complex despite the director's attempted sabotage.Streisand manages to give us a skeleton of the original plot in a little over an hour, then turns this movie into girl meets goy just like "The Way We Were."  Yeah, the romance was in the book, but it wasn't so in your face.An unintentionally funny scene: Nick Nolte weeps in the good psychiatrist's office (Dr. Lowenstein is played by Barbra Streisand), as he recalls being raped when he was a boy.
I love laughing.If you like dramas and are a fan of either Streisand or Nolte then this film is a must see.
The cast is superb and top quality and although Streisand herself shines it is Nick Nolte who steals the show as Tom Wingo,in one of the most intense and moving performances in modern filmmaking.
My husband loved this movie, especially Nick Nolte's Oscar winning performance in it, but I personally found it a boring package of psychobabble and of course the standard pair of would be lovers trapped in unhappy marriages, with no one else understanding their problems except each other.The film tells the tale of a troubled Southern man, Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) who is consulted by the New York psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein, who is treating his suicidal twin sister, Savannah (Mellina Dillon).
However, I was interested to read that Streisand's real life son, Jason Gould, portrays (quite effectively) her character's teenage son, Bernard.These psychotherapy tales are just not my type of movie.
Streisand's semi-controversial adaptation of THE PRINCE OF TIDES may not have completely satisfied fans of the book, however, the general public fell instantly under the film's hypnotic spell - and turned it into a surprise box office smash The decision to keep the film's focus in the present rather than the past results in the elimination of most of the novel's lengthy backstory.
As the film progresses, these characters seem especially real, and they are embodied by an absolutely flawless cast.As anyone who has read the book can attest, the characters of Tom and Lila Wingo would seem to be extremely challenging (if not almost unplayable) roles, both of which are brimming with contradictions and hidden emotions.
Blythe Danner, Jason Gould, and Melinda Dillion all also turn in memorable performances, even though Dillion's Savannah (a lead character in the novel) has precious little screen time due to the film's structure.
Southern football coach Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) one day learns that his sister in New York has attempted suicide, forcing him to meet with her psychiatrist Dr. Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand, also the director).
Over time, Tom and Susan fall in love.I guess that the part about Tom and Susan developing a relationship was kind of predictable, but Streisand did a good job with the movie.
Based on the novel by Pat Conroy, this is the story of a South Carolina football coach who must come to terms with a dark family secret when his sister attempts suicide.
Nick Nolte plays Tom Wingo, a man undergoing marital difficulties (his wife thinks he is cold and distant) who must meet with his sister's New York psychiatrist (that would be Barbra) and tell her about some of the family skeletons that his sister has blocked from her memory.
The movie, despite limitations, does a fine job of capturing the essence of that story.I am not a Nolte fan but I liked this performance, and would go out on a limb to suggest that it is his best yet (even better than Affliction).
The story follows Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) on the way to the hospital where his sister Savannah, (Melinda Dillon) is a patient, having tried to commit suicide.
The Prince of Tides has enough plot for 3 Lifetime channel movies and it's burdened with unnecessary characterizations by Jason Gould, Blythe Danner and Jerome Kerobbe to say nothing of a pointless, highly unlikely and questionable romance between Nolte's troubled Tom Wingo and his suicidal sister's shrink Dr. Lowenstein played unconvincingly by Streisand whose direction is rhythm-less, pedestrian and overwrought and in no way suggests Streisand was robbed of a Best Director nomination by a sexist Academy but rather was damned lucky that The Prince of Tides was a Best Picture nominee!
As Billy Crystal quipped during his Oscar presentation song, "Did this film direct itself?" Barbra Streisand, producer, director, and leading lady in The Prince of Tides was almost completely snubbed at the Academy Awards in 1992.
While Barbra Streisand isn't given very good lines to say-she plays a therapist, and she says things no therapist would ever say-Nick Nolte's performance in her office makes everyone forget her side of the conversation.
Kate Nelligan, who plays Nick's mother, does do a very good job, so if you're a fan, you might want to see her only Oscar-nominated performance.Normally, I don't really like movies that flash back and forth between the present and the past, but it's only because most directors don't handle the transitions very well.
Tom's problem stems from his dysfunctional family with his abusive shrimper father Henry, mother Lila (Kate Nelligan), twin Savannah, older brother Luke and one terrible incident.Nick Nolte is a powerful presence and Barbra Streisand is well-matched.
"The Prince of Tides" is a fair adaption of the much better book by Pat Conroy.The acting in the movie is very good, including an excellent performance by Nick Nolte, one of my favorite actors.
What Streisand created was a love story, nothing more, and borrowed a couple of characters from a beautifully written book that she loosely based her movie on.
In fact, Streisand steps back to play the subordinate role of Dr. Susan Lowenstein, the pricey New York psychiatrist treating Tom's sister, Savannah.
There are several characters and subplots in the book that could not make it with the limited time of a movie, that you will enjoy.I thought all-in-all, the movie became too much a love story, and missed the complex dynamics between Tom Wingo, and his brother Luke and sister Savannah.
If only 1) Barbra Streisand hadn't directed and starred, 2) the story had been more concerned with the Wingo family than the "therapy" provided by Lowenstein, 3) the really horrible scenes (such as the awful dinner party at the Lowenstein home) and dialogue had been left on the cutting room floor, 4) the suicidal sister been allowed to have a character, and 5) the score had been dumped (it's so sickly it should come with a warning from the dental association) THEN this movie might be palatable!
But considering the limitations of a two hour film, it came across real well, especially the acting of Nick Nolte as Tom Wingo.
It looks put upon and completely forced.The story is there, I am sure the book has some resonance, but this movie, while pretty in some ways, was just painful to watch.
The acting was surprisingly good (not by Streisand, but by Nick Nolte as the man with troubles) and there were good dramatic scenes.
Barbra Streisand directed "The Prince of Tides" by book of Pat Conroy and in my opinion she did a good job.
Story is about Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) who has to talk to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand).
In order to help his sister Savannah (Melinda Dillon) Tom must remember few things from his childhood that he put deep inside.Streisand made good movie and first role of Tom Wingo was offered to Kevin Costner.
Barbra Streisand is miles away from Nolte's performance but her role isn't that hard to do.
Unemployed high football coach Nick Nolte (Oscar-nominated) sees psychiatrist Barbra Streisand after his sister (Melinda Dillon) tries to commit suicide.
I just couldn't buy Nick Nolte as Tom...It just never felt right, so it's a little painful to watch given how much I loved the book..
Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand give legendary performances that should not be missed.
In fact, even Nolte's worst critics would keep quite after watching his act in here.Directed by the Legendary Barbra Streisand, 'The Prince Of Tides' tells the story of the narrator's struggle to overcome the psychological damage inflicted by his dysfunctional childhood.The film is interesting in most parts, as the adapted screenplay is well-written.
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.
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.
Now, in conclusion, if you are a fan of Nick Nolte or Barbra Streisand, or you enjoyed Pat Conroy's title novel, I highly recommend this movie.
Which then begs the second question of why the Motion Picture Academy didn't consider her for a Best Actress Award or Best Director considering all the other nominations The Prince of Tides received.This film may be Nick Nolte's career role.
Nolte=Good/Babs=Bad. Nick Nolte confronts ugly childhood memories as he goes to New York to met with a psychiatrist, Barbra Streisand, to discuss a suicide attempt by his twin sister.
This film, based on the best-selling novel by Pat Conroy, who also co-wrote the screenplay, has much to commend:  an excellent performance by Nick Nolte, wonderful cinematography, and skilled direction at hands of the big-B herself.
The stupid romance between Streisand and Nolte was a very minor part of the book but became the entire movie.
When the sister goes into therapy, Nolte's Tom Wingo meets the therapist played by Barbra Streisand.
Pat Conroy adapts a novel about a dysfunctional SC Southern family's traumatic events, with Barbra Streisand, into an Oscar-nominated intense role for Nick Nolte, who plays the leading man (Tom Wingo), to Streisand's (Susan Lowenstien) leading woman, NYC psychiatrist.