Nuts

Based on Tom Topors's off broadway play, NUTS is a highly charged drama that raises some uneasy questions. NUTS opened in late 1987 to little hype and mixed reviews.

This is a film that deserves to have a second life on video. While the court room plot devices are predictable, the film raises some important issues and questions. Questions like, "What is normal?" and "Does the law have the right to force help upon those who don't want it?"

What really makes this film worth watching though, is Barbra Strisand's bravura performance in the lead. I cannot believe she failed to receive an Oscar for her work here, it's crime that she wasn't at least nominated. Director Martin Ritt keep the film going at a perfect pace and also gets strong supporting performances from Richard Dreyfss and Maureen Stapleton.

This is a film that deserves more attention then it originally received, it is honest, though-provoking, and features a brilliant performance from Streisand.

My score for this excellent film: 9/10!

Nuts is an adaptation of a stage play. Aaron Levinsky (Richard Dreyfuss) a public defendant is forced to take on a defendant being tried for competency.

The District Attorney (Robert Webber) sees this as a simple case of mental incompetency. The accused in question is playful, spirited and hard to handle. Claudia Draper (Barbra Streisand) is the high class call girl who is determined to prove that she is not nuts. Her parents are bemused but as we see from flashbacks there is a terrible family secret and Levinsky will need to discredit (Eli Wallach) the psychiatrist who is convinced that Draper is nuts.

Its hard to escape the film's stage-bound origins as a lot of the film consists of interior shots. In some ways this a courtroom play. Dreyfuss is actually enjoying himself as defendant lawyer Levinsky trying to get a handle of his rich girl client and then seeing his face when he twigs what the real tragedy might be.

Streisand on the other hand never convinces me that she is a high class hooker who has been roughing it on the seamy side of life. Its not the film's fault that the murder victim turns out to be Leslie Nielsen (soon to be in the hit spoof Naked Gun films) as his scenes that we see in flashback go a little bit too near to Frank Drebin and I am sure no want wanted too see Nielsen in just his black underpants.

As a courtroom thriller in a busy New York court setting the film is enjoyable but dare I suggest that Miss Streisand was miscast.

In New York, the public defender Aaron Levinsky (Richard Dreyfuss) witnesses the high-class call girl Claudia Draper (Barbra Streisand) beating her attorney while waiting for his hearing in the courtroom. Judge Stanley Murdoch (James Whitmore) assigns him to defend Claudia and soon he learns that she killed her client Allen Green (Leslie Nielsen) in self-defense. However, her mother Rose Kirk (Maureen Stapleton) and her wealthy stepfather Arthur Kirk (Karl Malden) want her declared mentally incompetent to go on trial. Dr. Herbert A. Morrison (Eli Wallach) prepares a medical report stating that she is mentally unstable to support the trial, but Claudia wants to prove that she is sane; otherwise she would spend the rest of her life in a mental institution. Along the hearing, the District Attorney Francis MacMillan (Robert Webber) and Levinsky question the defendant, her mother, her stepfather and Dr. Morring and the painful truth about Claudia's childhood is disclosed.

"Nuts" is one of the best courtroom dramas ever made. The story is developed practically in one location, but the performances are awesome highlighting Barbra Streisand. This actress deserved at least a nomination to the Oscar. The conclusion has a corny moment, when Claudia hugs her mother. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Querem me Enlouquecer" ("They Want to Drive me Crazy")

Note: On 12 Nov 2018 I saw this film again.

Streisand is still good in this thankless role playing a necessarily annoying character. The real jewel in this film is Maureen Stapleton. As always she gives an award winning performance. The acting is good but the courtroom scenes stretch credibility.

Nuts, by Barbra Streisand, is a classic showcase of this multi-talented woman's versatility as an actress. The film deals with a very weighty subject, is handled superbly by Streisand, both as an actress and as a director. Other noteworthy performances are given by Richard Dreyfuss, Maureen Stapleton, and Arthur Kirk, as her lawyer, mother, and step-father respectively. This film is an unadultered gem and should be considered as such by any worthy critic.