The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Mirror Has Two Faces
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1996
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.
Movie details
The Mirror Has Two Faces
“A story about just how wrong two people can be before they can be right.”
1996 Comedy · Drama · Romance 2h 6m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
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.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Mirror Has Two Faces?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Author! Author!
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Barbra Streisand
Written by
Richard LaGravenese
Barbra Streisand
Rose Morgan
Jeff Bridges
Gregory Larkin
Pierce Brosnan
Alex
Lauren Bacall
Hannah Morgan
Mimi Rogers
Claire
George Segal
Henry Fine
Brenda Vaccaro
Doris
Court is in session
Put The Mirror Has Two Faces on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.