Movie · 1996 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 2h 6m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 3.1/10 (64K ratings)
A story about just how wrong two people can be before they can be right.
Overview
Rose Morgan, who still lives with her mother, is a professor of Romantic Literature who desperately longs for passion in her life. Gregory Larkin, a mathematics professor, has been burned by passionate relationships and longs for a sexless union based on friendship and respect.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.1/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.35/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 53%
Metacritic: 50
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Barbra Streisand
Production
TriStar Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, Arnon Milchan Productions, Barwood Films
Cast
Barbra Streisand, Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, Lauren Bacall, Mimi Rogers, George Segal, Brenda Vaccaro, Austin Pendleton, Elle Macpherson, Ali Marsh, Leslie Stefanson, Taina Elg, Lucy Avery Brooks, Amber Smith, David Kinzie, Howard S. Herman, Thomas Hartman, Trevor Ristow, Brian Schwary, Randy Pearlstein
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, eccentric romantic comedy-drama with a very specific 90s studio-movie sensibility: witty, self-conscious, and often charming, but also uneven and built around an idea of beauty and desirability that can feel dated or blunt. It’s worth it for viewers who enjoy big-hearted, talky romances with strong performances and a slightly off-kilter tone.
Best for
fans of 90s romantic comedies with a dramatic streak
viewers who like character-driven, dialogue-heavy relationship stories
people interested in Barbra Streisand’s directing style and star persona
audiences open to imperfect but earnest mainstream romance
Skip if
you’re sensitive to outdated beauty politics or body-image humor
you want a sleek, modern rom-com
you dislike melodramatic tonal swings
you prefer subtle, naturalistic romance over heightened studio sentiment
Overview
The Mirror Has Two Faces is one of those movies that feels both more ambitious and more awkward than its reputation suggests. It wants to be a romantic comedy about intellect, self-image, and the fear of intimacy, and it keeps reaching for something emotionally generous even when the script gets clumsy or overexplained. That tension gives it personality, but it also makes the film feel uneven from scene to scene.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the movie’s oddball sincerity. The banter can be sharp, the performances are committed, and the whole thing has a distinctly old-fashioned, theatrical confidence that’s rare in mainstream 90s romance. At the same time, the premise depends heavily on a beauty-versus-worth framework that now reads as blunt, sometimes uncomfortable, and occasionally unintentionally comic.
Bottom line
Still, there’s a real appeal in its emotional scale. It’s a movie about people trying to negotiate desire, pride, and vulnerability without fully knowing how, and that gives it a messy human charge. If you can accept its dated assumptions and its broad comic gestures, it’s a fascinating, sometimes very funny, often surprisingly tender studio romance.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Rafael Coêlho (3.5★) · 2040 likes
no one:
absolutely no one:
not a single soul:
hannah morgan: i’ve buried a husband. i’ve raised two daughters. i’ve made my own coffee
Tess (3.5★) · 1158 likes
If my mother was Lauren Bacall I'd have self-confidence issues too.
single white femalien (4★) · 919 likes
i woke up thinkin today about what it's like to occupy the social role of Ugly Woman (yes i know what you're thinking and let me answer ur question now - it was in fact a great day where i wasn't depressed at all!) and then i watched this movie about a man entering into a chaste relationship with an intelligent, funny, talented but fugly barbra streisand so that his man boners can no longer interrupt his hard man work… more i woke up thinkin today about what it's like to occupy the social role of Ugly Woman (yes i know what you're thinking and let me answer ur question now - it was in fact a great day where i wasn't depressed at all!) and then i watched this movie about a man entering into a chaste relationship with an intelligent, funny, talented but fugly barbra streisand so that his man boners can no longer interrupt his hard man work… more
David Sims (3★) · 879 likes
by the time we were at the sixth act (Barbra pondering an affair with Pierce Brosnan while Jeff Bridges screams math at his students) I felt too unhinged to have an objective opinion on this movie
clownhead (3.5★) · 720 likes
"I never thought about what I would feel, I was only thinking about you. I only wanted to make you happy. I never thought I was good enough for you!"
"But ... you are good enough for me, Rose! You are, you are!"
"I know, I know, but Alex? You're not good enough for me."
I LOVE FEMINISM!