Movie · 1991 · Drama, Romance · 2h 12m · R · English
Curator score: 3.9/10 (35.7K ratings)
A story about the memories that haunt us, and the truth that sets us free.
Overview
A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the process.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.9/10
IMDb: 6.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.36/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Barbra Streisand
Production
Columbia Pictures, Barwood Films, Longfellow Pictures
Cast
Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Kate Nelligan, Jeroen Krabbé, Melinda Dillon, George Carlin, Jason Gould, Brad Sullivan, Maggie Collier, Lindsay Wray, Brandlyn Whitaker, Justen Woods, Bobby Fain, Trey Yearwood, Tiffany Jean Davis, Nancy Moore Atchison, Kiki Runyan, Grayson Fricke, Ryan Newman
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A sweeping, emotionally overripe adult drama that blends family trauma, romance, and Southern gothic memory with real star power. It’s messy in places, but the performances, the tonal audacity, and the unusual warmth of its central relationship make it a compelling watch.
Best for
Viewers who like big, earnest 1990s prestige dramas
Fans of adult romance mixed with family trauma
People interested in Barbra Streisand as a filmmaker
Anyone drawn to Southern gothic storytelling and emotional confession
Skip if
You want a tight, modern screenplay with minimal melodrama
You dislike long runtime and heightened emotional speeches
You prefer trauma stories without romance or star-driven glamour
You’re put off by 1990s prestige-cinema excess
Overview
The Prince of Tides is the kind of Hollywood drama that feels both shameless and sincere. It swings from domestic comedy to painful childhood revelation to glossy New York romance, and somehow the movie’s confidence keeps those pieces from collapsing into each other. Barbra Streisand directs with a clear eye for emotional texture and adult conversation, while Nick Nolte gives the film its bruised, weathered center.
Worth noting
What makes it linger is the odd balance between self-importance and genuine feeling. The family trauma material is intense, sometimes almost too intense, but the movie also has room for humor, tenderness, and a surprisingly appealing romantic glow. It’s very much a product of its era: polished, talky, therapeutic, and a little indulgent, but also unusually willing to treat middle-aged longing as worthy of grand treatment.
Bottom line
The result is not a perfect film, but it is a distinctive one. If you respond to movies that are emotionally maximal, actor-forward, and unafraid of being a little excessive, this is an easy recommendation. If you need restraint, you’ll probably bounce off it; if you like your melodrama with intelligence and star charisma, it delivers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (4★) · 395 likes
Few things better than watching a movie and suddenly understanding the origin of a Simpsons joke you've been quoting since you were a kid
also it's insane that this movie goes from an extended comedy subplot about Nolte teaching Babs' nerdy son to play football right into Straw Dogs-level harrowing shit and somehow stays on the rails. Wish Babs had made more movies!
Tess (3.5★) · 279 likes
I have now watched ten Barbra Streisand films in two weeks and as I drag myself around letterboxd logging these films I am BOMBARDED with terrible takes from men about Babs. Always unnecessarily personal and petty, occasionally about how you were 'surprised' you found her attractive or some dross about "vanity projects". Please I beg you... go away.... go watch something else and leave me in peace.
Regarding the filmè... DID YOU SEE HER HAIR?! PHENOMENAL.
Sean Fennessey (3★) · 223 likes
I’ve been embarking on an unfocused review of ‘90s bourgeoise cinema. Clintonian examinations of Freudian middle-aged distress hiding unexamined portraits of class comfort and movie star beauty. I’d never seen this example, and it has all the tics, for better and worse. Long, self-pitying exchanges between educated, dyspeptic baby boomers, blessed with articulation and feathery hair. Still, I love Nick Nolte, an odd mash-up of Paul Newman and Lee Marvin—smooth yet gravel-toned, fast-talking and balletic, fixing to explode like a… more I’ve been embarking on an unfocused review of ‘90s bourgeoise cinema. Clintonian examinations of Freudian middle-aged distress hiding unexamined portraits of class comfort and movie star beauty. I’d never seen this example, and it has all the tics, for better and worse. Long, self-pitying exchanges between educated, dyspeptic baby boomers, blessed with articulation and feathery hair. Still, I love Nick Nolte, an odd mash-up of Paul Newman and Lee Marvin—smooth yet gravel-toned, fast-talking and balletic, fixing to explode like a… more
fran hoepfner (3★) · 185 likes
I wish I had a more Jewish name that someone could fetishize