Written by: Pat Conroy (novel), Pat Conroy and Becky Johnston (screenplay)
Directed by: Barbra Streisand
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner, George Carlin
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Verdict
It's a well made movie, but there are just so many other movies that are a must see. This doesn't do enough to overcome that.
It depends.
Review
By talking to his sister's therapist, Tom realizes how their childhood shaped both of them. Tom's having issues with his wife and family, and while the therapist, Susan, helps him see the why in the result, she doesn't help resolve it as they start a relationship.
Tom and his sister had an abusive father. There's a scene where his mom feeds her husband dog food, and he likes it. I remember seeing this scene many years ago, finally I know where I saw it though I have no idea why I was watching this movie.
Tom's childhood shaped him and his sister, though they turned out differently, neither is thriving. Tom is bitter. His marriage is crumbling, but all he can do is gush about how beautiful Susan is. While she tries to refrain from treating Tom, he insists they are just friends discussing his sister.
I wondered if this relationship was one sided. Is Tom merely infatuated because she's helping him discover revelations about his life. She isn't providing much information about here life. Does he think they are closer than they really are. While they've established he isn't a patient, the amount Susan knows about him has to affect how she sees him. It's a sense of close you don't get with the average person, because you wouldn't tell them all these secrets.
This gets dark, the big trigger in both Tom and his sister's life is dark. You wonder how anyone in the family rose above the attack. The attack and continued assault is unimaginable.
Tom remains in New York to see Susan and begins coaching her son Bernard in football. There's a quick change from Bernard hating him, to being best friends with Tom. Bernard knows something is going on. With that and how quickly they become friends, it just seems off. Wouldn't Bernard act out knowing his mom is tanking the marriage?
The movie doesn't do a good job of conveying the passage of time. It tells us a summer, but it doesn't feel that long. This is almost two broken people finding happiness, but there's certainly a moral quandry they're in. Maybe it's just a rebound, a relationship based on intense emotion, an attachment.
I do like the ending. Tom gives up what he has with Susan to make the best of what he had. I like that he took responsibility, deciding that he had loved his wife longer, not more. Susan becomes a memory. The ending is almost enough to make me recommend this, almost.
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