Too much of everything

Awesome Movie

Absolutely the worst movie.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Based on Tom Topor's 1979 play by the same name, 'Nuts' is an affecting & slightly heavy courtroom drama, that is compelling & also offers strong performances to empower the show.'Nuts' Synopsis: A high-class call girl (Barbra Streisand) accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.Much of 'Nuts' benefits from its strong cast who bring in their A-Game. Streisand is excellent as the woman accused of being Nuts, delivering a performance of genuine power & sadness. And the ever-reliable Richard Dreyfuss is terrific as her attorney, nailing the supporting part with flourish. Even The Late/Great Maureen Stapleton does a splendid job as Streisand's imperfect, but caring mother. There is also the pleasure to watch Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, James Whitmore, Robert Webber & Leslie Nielsen on-screen, since they are no longer with us. All the actors are first-rate.Tom Topor, Darryl Ponicsan & Alvin Sargent's Screenplay is grim, affecting & engrossing. The Writing indulges in disturbing matters such as pedophileia & sexual harassment, but with an impact. The Late/Great Martin Ritt's Direction is effective. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, merit a special mention.On the whole, 'Nuts' is a winning motion-picture.

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")

In this movie, Barbra Streisand is victimized by everyone -- her parents, the justice system, the johns she entertains -- and therefore the movie qualifies for entry into the genre of fantasy.Streisand, a hooker, has a court hearing before a judge, the always admirable James Whitmore, to decide if she's too crazy to stand trial for manslaughter one, after killing a client who was apparently about to kill her.It's her intent to be judged sane enough to stand trial and what she wants, she gets. She's defended by Richard Dreyfus and prosecuted by Robert Webber. Her parents, Maureen Stapleton and Karl Malden, attend the two-day hearing.Streisand's character was raised in a rather well-off middle-class family, but her life has been chaotic, misbehavior in high school, the collapse of a ten-year marriage, smoking (gulp) marijuana, and finally becoming a high-end prostitute. Streisand interrupts the highly ritualized hearing by banging on glass tumblers, shouting, and otherwise disrupting the tranquility of the court.Leslie Nielsen is the client who tries to kill her. She kills him instead, by stabbing him in the neck with a sharp shard of broken mirror, which is a common Hollywood convention, akin to knocking an opponent out by butting forehead, but it's still a violation of Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Anyway, there is obviously going to be a damned good reason for Streisand's unusual behavior. It's pretty generic. All the men in her life have been idiots, just as most of the men in this movie are. But the moment it was disclosed that Karl Malden was merely her stepfather, not her biological parent, we knew we were to be faced with the iron causality of childhood sexual abuse.Streisand is a curiously attractive woman with considerable acting talent and a fine singing voice. But she has an ego the size of New Guinea. To her coworkers, she is as the nutcracker is to the walnut. So it's easy to see why she would find this role suitable. She gets to tell everybody off and insult them freely. The script makes it easy for her because, aside from Whitmore's judge and Dreyfus' defense attorney, everybody from the doctor on down is a liar and a moron.The drama itself is a little sluggish but interesting in its details. Even sluggish courtroom dramas are interesting though, if they're at all well done, as this one is. Of course, Streisand's character could have obviated the mishigas if she had just taken the stand and told the truth right off the bat, but if she'd done that there would have been no movie. It would have been like Hamlet killing Claudius at the beginning, or the Indians shooting the horses instead of trying to pick off the stagecoach passengers.

What are the thought patterns of someone who is psychologically disturbed? As this movie portrays it, (just as many other politically astute movies have done in the past) the depiction of psychologically inappropriate behavior will appear like behavior which merely lacks a little decorum.. Comprehension of "knowing the drill" so to speak, is a charade of devising clever little euphemisms for sweeping everything under the rug!! The omnipotent ye old faithful American twenty dollar bill became the proverbial picture that speaks more than 1,000 words.. Also, it does a heinously effective job of concealing virtually everything!! This whole covert arsenal for cognitive dissonance was the convoluted perspective that the film "Nuts" presented to the movie audience!! "Nuts" portrays the mental ward, that Claudia Draper was facilitated in, as a domicile for derelicts with sexual obsessions and deliberately violent mannerisms!! When somebody tells you to "grow up" and just "act like an adult" frequently these are platitudes for telling you that you should avoid telling the truth!! Such an articulation of this poignant characteristic of human behavior, puts this film in an auspicious category all by itself!! Barbara Streisand played Claudia Draper, and her home life was relegated to a precariously comfortable arrangement.. The haunting scene encompassing a deliberation hearing with relation to a trial for a capital crime, became a stilted side show for unearthing all of Claudia Draper's domestic intricacies!! Reveille with the prevailing situation in Claudia's home life brought out a few major skeletons in the closet! The only unrealistic aspect to this movie is that no public defense attorney is going to engage in complex guessing games to vindicate his client in the manner that Richard Dreyfuss' character did!!! In evaluating the trial in this movie, it was a case of insolence and temerity trying to run roughshod over a vulnerable spawn of an emotionally neglected household!! Cannon fodder for the prosecution included the exploitation of Claudia's very sordid occupation!! The prosecution also pinpointed many corroborating nuances of Claudia's which wound up compounding her overall predicament!! In particular, they (The prosecution and her psychiatrist) dwelled on her extremely non conventional actions!! The indelible impact a tragedy will have on an innocent teenager can definitely devastate her!! Depraved sexual fixations which are motivated by relentless testosterone driven theatrics became a perpetual culprit for violence and lewd debauchery in this movie!!! Orchestrating a cerebral quagmire as a subterfuge for the non-egalitarian justification of your basic carnal desires translated to the step father's self serving interests!! These interests manifested themselves as a gargantuan debacle which became an egregious societal burden!! What that means is that thousands and thousands of tax dollars were squandered on the burden of proof for coping with the end result of some lecherous curmudgeon's obstinate recreational activities!! These activities delved into the lustfully demented aspects of the taboo!! Circumstantial evidence seemed to habitually solicit more social acceptability than did exculpatory facts!! This was the summon substance of Claudia Draper's dilemma!! To say that Claudia Draper suffered from cerebral inhibitions, and a lethal taciturnity, would be a masterpiece of understatement!! If everything were just a case of black or white, whereby a professional psychiatric evaluation becomes the final decree, Claudia Draper would have been dead in the water from the offset!!This movie has an amazing amount of top notch acting talent!! It stars, Barbara Streisand, Richard Dreyfuss, James Whitmore, Eli Wallach, Lesile Nielson, Karl Malden and Maureen Stapleton!! The intensity of emotions and agitated responses in this movie was utterly spellbinding!! By 1987, it was time to bring out a film which was intellectually riveting!! The happy go lucky disposition of the 1980's was fine, however, on occasion, a film should elaborate on real life instances of trauma, regardless of the way the wind is blowing in the American Cinema's mindset during a given era!! I found this film to be excellent with regards to it's portrayal of mental disillusionment!! When someone is barraged with questions, there is nothing wrong with deluging the curious party with a bunch of candid answers!! This is my basic interpretation of the film "Nuts". My assessment of "Nuts" is that it is: AN ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS MOVIE!!!!