Parents' Guide to The Mirror has Two Faces

Despite some dated ideas and flaws, The Mirror has Two Faces is still a fun watch, with a great cast and a silly premise. What healthy, heterosexual, seemingly highly intelligent grown man would conclude that marrying a woman he isn't attracted to is the way to remedy his habit of taking up with inconsiderate and selfish pretty women? Maybe he could simply look for nice women who are also pretty before he abandons sex all together?

This is a take on the story of a woman yearning for a man supposedly out of her league. To that end, Richard LaGravanese's script is witty and Streisand gives an intelligent performance, but Bridges seems miscast as a handsome man paralyzed by baseless theories. Often, it feels as if the movie misses its own point. Streisand is in fact so wildly attractive that when she leaves Greg because she can't live with a passionless marriage, what ensues seems backwards. Clearly, it is he who must change by recognizing the absurdity of his theory. Yet, Rose is the one to revamp herself in the desperate effort to make the relationship work. Still persuaded she is not pretty, she revamps herself with weight loss, exercise, and a new wardrobe with decolletage, short skirts, black stockings, and stiletto heels. The person who was already terrific does all the work. The person who needed to work on himself does nothing.