I recently read the book, Prince of Tides, and it was wonderful, so I decided to give the movie a shot. I was extremely disappointed. The main character, Tom Wingo, is supposed to be an intelligent but troubled man, burdened with his past and hides his emotion through humor and sarcasm. Nick Nolte instead came off as having swallowed a bottle of Adderall, then trying, and failing, to do a comedy routine. I was also unmoved by his "emotional" scenes. And Barbara Streisand as the unhappy psychiatrist who doesn't realize her own beauty and inadvertently seduces Tom while trying to coax out his emotions? No offense to Babs, she is an excellent actress, but not meant for this role. Furthermore, while I understand the movie couldn't possibly portray every part of the book, the parts it did choose were random and failed to capture the true story. For instance, there was an entire story behind the rape scene that wasn't explained, nor was the part where Lila takes young Tom to the rich guy's house to apologize. Savannah Wingo, the character who half the story is supposed to about, wasn't developed nearly enough. Pat Conroy is a beyond excellent writer whose works could never be fully captured by a movie, but this movie didn't even seem to try. I'd stick to the book.
Review of The Prince of Tides
