Nuts

Streisand in control, and the film goes out the window.

lol, Barbra Streisand. I'll give her this: she plays a convincing maniac.

A strangely engaging film with a typically powerful performance from Streisand. Unpromising material for a film you may think but you would be wrong. A little slow in parts but with equal measure of drama and some wonderfully comic moments this is certainly worth watching.

The great Martin Ritt way past his prime directing an embarrassing Tom Topor script. It's honestly hard to divide the blame for the unmitigated disaster of the main character, because the role and Streisand's acting are both excruciatingly awful. Psychology, psychopathology and court proceedings are ridiculously misportrayed. Whether it's because they are miscast or due to their poor dialogue, I even had trouble enjoying the venerable actors playing in supporting roles.

Though it's largely set in a daunting courtroom, Nuts tries to be more psychological mystery than legal dilemma, and for the better part of the way throughout, Nuts is startlingly gripping before it shamelessly tumbles into agonizing, even cringe-worthy sermonizing at the lugubrious and pedantic conclusion when Streisand serves a painfully affected monologue all in close-up.