A vanity project for Barbara Streisand. She has no fewer than 12 mentions in the credits of this story of an ugly duckling who turns into a swan - although, being Streisand, there doesn't seem to be much difference - save that the beautiful version combs her hair more. When Professor Jeff Bridges, impressed by her brain and her commitment to her work, suggests a sex-free marriage, she accepts. The rest of the highly predictable story is culled strictly from the pages of the more rose-coloured women's fiction. What saves it is the witty and sometimes waspish quality of Richard LaGravenese's dialogue ('He asked me to some Alzheimer benefit - I told him to forget it'), the best of which is devoured voraciously by Lauren Bacall , in a show-stopping, Oscar-nominated supporting performance that brims with relaxed confidence.

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