The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

Barbra Streisand does a fantastic job directing a big sturdy cast of actors in a bloated, awkwardly constructed romantic comedy.

Rose (Barbra Streisand) is a frumpy but extremely popular English professor at Columbia University who lives with her mother (Lauren Bacall) and plays the bridesmaid, never the bride, at her sister Claire's (Mimi Rogers) third wedding. Beautiful Claire is marrying the perfect Alex (Pierce Brosnan), and Rose is the one who first introduced them and still carries the torch for him. Rose likes to eat, and she and her best friend (Brenda Vaccaro) have accepted their stations in life and coast along. Greg (Jeff Bridges) is also a Columbia professor, of calculus and mathematics. He has just finished writing a boring book no one will ever read, and he puts his sparsely populated classes to sleep with his drivel. One thing that does stir him up are the number of beautiful women he beds, but who do not stick around for commitment. Greg tires of these trysts and decides to write a personal ad looking for an intelligent woman whose physical appearance is not important. Claire answers the ad in Rose's name, and Greg observes Rose teach a class, where she declares physical love ruins everything. Greg leaves before hearing that Rose wants that passion in a relationship, however, and Greg comes up with a new theory. He will find a woman and be her loving friend and companion, but not have physical relations with her because this obviously ruins everything. He asks Rose out on a date and she accepts.

Streisand gives Bridges plenty of leeway and doesn't hog the camera for herself. The original story is based on a French film, and it feels foreign to me. These characters do not exist in any world we know of, but in romantic-comedy-movie-land. It is hard to relate to them, much less be asked to put up with their oddball behavior. The big name cast is reduced to small roles that could have been played by anyone. Bridges survives unscathed, Streisand is fine, and there is a lot of raw emotion and insecurity when Rose begins confronting how she looks, but the film needed some tightening.

"The Mirror Has Two Faces" is bland and innocuous, but in a good way. I wish there had been more heft to it, considering the talent on both sides of the camera.

Stats:
(1996) 126 min. (6/10)
-Directed by Barbra Streisand
-Screenplay and Screen Story by Richard LaGravenese based on the screenplay by Andre Cayatte and Gerard Oury
-Cast: Barbra Streisand, Jeff Bridges, Mimi Rogers, Lauren Bacall, George Segal, Pierce Brosnan, Brenda Vaccaro, Austin Pendleton, Elle Macpherson, Ali Marsh, Leslie Stefanson, Taina Elg, Lucy Avery Brooke
(PG-13)
*Academy Awards*
-Best Supporting Actress- Lauren Bacall (lost to Juliette Binoche "The English Patient")
-Best Original Song- "I've Finally Found Someone" (lost to "You Must Love Me"- "Evita")
*BAFTA*
-Best Supporting Actress- Lauren Bacall (lost to Juliette Binoche "The English Patient")