Back when Tamara and I started dating in 1996, I remember seeing THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES at a long closed Mesa Mann Theatres at Alma School and Southern. We had the chance to watch it again after 20 years of marriage and it brought back plenty of great memories.
Jeff Bridges is at his quirky and likable best as shy college professor Gregory Larkin. Frustrated by the dating scene, he puts an ad in the paper seeking a female companion without any physical relationship.
Enter fellow professor Rose Morgan (Barbara Streisand) who dreads every date with his sch-lumpy boyfriend Barry (hilarious Austin Pendleton from "What's Up Doc") and would rather sit home and watch baseball games in her bedroom.
Gregory and Rose meet and they enjoy each other's company intellectually, but soon Rose's feelings start to ease into love, causing plenty of comedic and dramatic complications.
The film's strength is three fold.
First its cast, including Lauren Bacall as Rose's oppressive and attention starved mom Hannah. Bacall is perfect as a women who still sees herself as 30 years old, exuding all the predatory confidence Rose lacks. Her scenes with Bridges are funny and perfectly played.
Pierce Brosnan is great as Alex, Rose's sister Claire's fiance. Claire is played by Mimi Rogers, who landed all the beauty but none of the caring in the Morgan sister lottery.
George Segal is terrific as Gregory's friend with a fondness for dating a parade of women and Brenda Vaccaro gets some solid laughs and dramatic moments as Rose's best friend and fellow single lady.
The second strength of the film is Barbara directing. This was the last film she directed, following her masterpiece and one of my favorite films of all time "The Prince of Tides", based on the great book by Pat Conroy.
Streisand's fondness for soft focus shots of herself not withstanding, she's a great director who knows how to stage comedy and confrontation, both on display throughout.
Third is the music score by Marvin Hamlisch (The Sting, The Spy Who Loved Me) that's almost a third actor here. It's an old fashioned score, blended with the right moments of arias here and there to set the perfect tone.
The film's biggest flaw is in its central concept. It spends most of its time telling us that physical appearance is unimportant and beauty is only skin deep and then forces a central character to physically transform themselves to get attention. It's an odd position to take given the message, but when the actors are this good and the characters this enjoyable to watch, we just rolled with it.
I'm not sure there have been many actors more likable than Bridges on screen. He's as good as it gets, making the films final moments all the more impactful.
One of Tamara and my early favorites from our early days, its held up well and still gets an enjoyable B.
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