Up the Sandbox

This is true: I personally reissued this film into cinemas in Australia in 1997. Why? because it is a maligned and neglected minor film from someone you would not expect to produce it. Certainly SANDBOX was "the Barbra Streisand film you never saw" and it attracted more than a few curious ticketbuyers. Not a success at all in 1972 and subsequently forgotten, I felt it to almost be the Manhattan style Woody Allen film Barbra made instead. The fantasy scenes in particular are hilarious and most of the motherhood sadness effective and touching. It is a pity a lot of the Masai tribe fantasy scenes remained on the cutting room floor as they are too brief and hint at a lot more to enjoy. It clearly is a film for young mothers and sold that way works. Most men hate it. They do not even want to get it. Anyway, I staged a preview with newspaper promotions and ticket winners to a screening. It was packed. The film went over quite well (especially the home movie fantasy at the parents house) but became confusing and ended abruptly for this audience. As I walked from the screening I overheard two staggering 80 year old grannies: "Well what'dyathink?" croaked one to the other. The other stopped and looked at her friend: "Ergg..what dya expect for free". Again, SANDBOX got great press reviews but I think I used up most of my public at the preview. It folded after a month. However, now on DVD it is a prize possession of many female friends who have just had their first kid, as Babs had in the early 70s.

This is One of Barbra's finest movies and, ironicly, did the poorest at the box office. After playing larger than life characters in her last 5 films, here Barbra plays a "normal", regular human being. A bored New York housewife who uses daydreams to escape from her unfullfulling life. There are many touching and heartfelt moments in this film, as well as very funny ones. It is a comedy/drama with depth and dimmensions. In one scene Barbra stands up to Fidel Castro with her views on womanhood and war.Yet, a little later the two have a hystericly funny scene where he reveals a "secret" to her. Barbra stands up to her domineering mother,unexpectedly, at her parents anniversary party, and...lets just say that someone ends up with something other than egg, on their face! The moments where Barbra is washing and lovingly taking care of her children, as well as the moments where she is in an abortion clinic pondering her thoughts, are heartfelt indeed. A wonderfully different and heartfelt, funny movie. I highly recommend it.

Probably the best Barbra Streisand movie nobody has ever seen, director Irvin Kershner's expose of urban angst is funny and sad but ultimately uplifting. Streisand plays a NYC housewife, sick to death of her disengaged husband, impossible mother, and overall lack of confidence. She finds release in fantasies: one moment she's frolicking with a very surprising Fidel Castro and the next she's helping to blow up the Statue of Liberty. Streisand has rarely been better. Director Kershner gets a very toned down performance out of her. David Selby, as the husband, is duly caddish and Paul Benedict, Conrad Bain and Isabel Sanford have small roles. Benedict is particularly funny as an especially inept great white hunter!

This is a film that has been sorely ignored by both Streisand fans and the movie-going public in general. SANDBOX is a comedy/drama that deals with the condition of the neglected housewives of the seventies. Streisand is absolutely wonderful in the lead. If this film had been seen by a wider audience, then you can bet she would have received an Oscar nomination.

Although the frequent fantasy/daydream scenes are somewhat uneven in quality, Streisand's touching and believable performance will keep you glued.

When originally released in 1972, SANDBOX was lost in the shadow of Streisand's blockbuster WHAT'S UP, DOC? (released the same year). >

UP THE SANDBOX deserves to be rediscovered on video. Give it a try.

My score: 8 out of 10.

This is one of Barbra Streisand's funniest films, if not the funniest.

This comedy, about a young woman's plight about whether she should tell her husband she is pregnant, has more weight than most of today's dramas and more imagination and humor than Woody Allen's last three features combined. The character she plays is an indominitable spirit who seems to use her imagination to survive in a very dark world, and the very bleak situation she finds herself in. It is very hard to tell exactly when the line between fantasy and reality has been crossed in many of the scenes, which makes a point about the world on its own. This movie was years ahead of its time and remains fresher than any modern comedy to date. It also holds up as well after the tenth viewing as it does after the first, because of the number of surreal vignettes, poignant moments, and Barbra's performance.

A must-see for any comedy fan, and a Streisand fan should run out immediately and rent it; you'll be kicking yourself not to have seen it before. The movie stands on its own as a testament to the human mind and spirit in the face of all circumstances.