The Mirror Has Two Faces is two movies rolled into one-which fits the title perfectly. I loved the Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy comedy Without Love, in which an unromantic scientist marries his assistant because they're great companions, not because they're crazy about each other. I'm a realist in romance and think it's infinitely more important to like who you're with than to love them. Adding romance into the mix often ruins the best relationships!
In the first "face" of the movie, Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges are both professors at the same college. They're both unlucky in love; Jeff has too many surface relationships and Barbra covers herself up for protection and doesn't get any attention. One day, Jeff sits in on a lecture of Barbra's, and he's incredibly moved by her speech on why people pursue romance even though it's painful. They strike up a friendship, and then Jeff proposes a platonic marriage. The second "face" shows that even though adding romance into the mix often ruins things, it is inevitable. Human beings have feelings (and hormones) and Barbra just isn't content living with Jeff without being his wife in every sense of the word. Would you?
This movie has some very funny scenes, but also a lot of poignancy, too. There was a lot of unfair criticism of the idea that Jeff would only fall in love with Barbra if she gave herself a makeover, but those who thought that was the point of the movie completely missed the message. Barbra's frumpy appearance was an outer display of her own self-image. She didn't think she was pretty, sexy, or worthy. If she learned to value herself, she would enjoy wearing nicer clothes and makeup. She wouldn't be doing it to look attractive. She would just feel better within herself. Films are a visual medium, and movie audiences need to look at something in order to understand it. If she didn't doll herself up, it wouldn't have been very clear that she'd grown into her own on the inside (or it would have taken pages and pages of dialogue, which probably would have been criticized for being boring!).
If you watched the movie once and dismissed it for exactly that reason, give it another shot with fresh eyes. You'll see George Segal, Lauren Bacall, Pierce Brosnan, Brenda Vaccaro, Austin Pendleton, Elle Macpherson, and Mimi Rogers in the supporting cast. And you'll see two very attractive people fall in like.
In the first "face" of the movie, Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges are both professors at the same college. They're both unlucky in love; Jeff has too many surface relationships and Barbra covers herself up for protection and doesn't get any attention. One day, Jeff sits in on a lecture of Barbra's, and he's incredibly moved by her speech on why people pursue romance even though it's painful. They strike up a friendship, and then Jeff proposes a platonic marriage. The second "face" shows that even though adding romance into the mix often ruins things, it is inevitable. Human beings have feelings (and hormones) and Barbra just isn't content living with Jeff without being his wife in every sense of the word. Would you?
This movie has some very funny scenes, but also a lot of poignancy, too. There was a lot of unfair criticism of the idea that Jeff would only fall in love with Barbra if she gave herself a makeover, but those who thought that was the point of the movie completely missed the message. Barbra's frumpy appearance was an outer display of her own self-image. She didn't think she was pretty, sexy, or worthy. If she learned to value herself, she would enjoy wearing nicer clothes and makeup. She wouldn't be doing it to look attractive. She would just feel better within herself. Films are a visual medium, and movie audiences need to look at something in order to understand it. If she didn't doll herself up, it wouldn't have been very clear that she'd grown into her own on the inside (or it would have taken pages and pages of dialogue, which probably would have been criticized for being boring!).
If you watched the movie once and dismissed it for exactly that reason, give it another shot with fresh eyes. You'll see George Segal, Lauren Bacall, Pierce Brosnan, Brenda Vaccaro, Austin Pendleton, Elle Macpherson, and Mimi Rogers in the supporting cast. And you'll see two very attractive people fall in like.