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This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Blistering performances.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Barbra Streisand herself must have seen the potential of the play Nuts for a big screen drama. In Nuts she fulfilled the ambition of every player I know to get a courtroom drama. In fact a whole bunch of players got their turn to strut their stuff in Nuts.The play by Tom Topor only ran 96 performances on Broadway, but the producers were wise enough to retain Topor to expand his work so it is not just confined to a courtroom in the same way A Few Good Men was adapted to the big screen. The issue is whether the lawyer hired by Streisand's parents is acting in her best interests in getting her declared not mentally competent enough to stand trial. Streisand insists she's perfectly sane. But assaulting her own high priced mouthpiece William Prince in open court might not have been the best way to go in proving it. Needing an attorney real fast she gets a legal aid attorney in Richard Dreyfuss who gets dragged unwillingly into the case.After that we get to James Whitmore's court where the issue will be joined. To some degree Whitmore, prosecutor Robert Webber, court psychiatrist Eli Wallach, and Dreyfuss is defending "the system" and their role in it.Barbra's a high class hooker who gets $500.00 a night and she is accused of killing client Leslie Nielsen who's a brutish sort of lout and we see what really went down in flashback. But speaking of vested interests it's clear that Streisand's wealthy parents Maureen Stapleton and Karl Malden have clear vested interests in getting her confined to a mental institution instead of a public trial.Like A Few Good Men a great ensemble cast brings this story to life and it's riveting. In fact one of the things you'll question is whether Streisand herself is acting in her own best interests.Nuts is a great drama asking questions with deep implications about our mental health system as it applies to criminal justice. We often hear of people trying to 'get off' from criminal responsibility by pleading temporary insanity. That is a course that has its own pitfalls as Nuts clearly demonstrates.The viewer because of the flashbacks knows the real story. One of the great strengths of Nuts is that anyone might draw different conclusions as to whether Streisand is acting in her own best interests.I'm astounded that Nuts did not merit any Oscar consideration. That to me is Nuts.

This movie just serves as a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand. While it has a credible plot that kept me watching till the end, it is very contrived film. When the movie starts Barbra's lawyer is trying to prove to a judge that she is mentally ill, so that her parents are saved the embarrassment of a public trial, which will surely reveal that their daughter is a hooker.She punches her lawyer who abandons the case and the judge appoints a new lawyer for her. But even though she is sane, she doesn't really acts like that. She is openly hostile to her lawyer who is trying to help and refuses to submit to an independent psychological examination that can help her case. When the hearing starts she constantly interrupts it. And somehow the judge never holds her in contempt but just keeps giving her warning after warning.I do realize that she was a victim of child abuse and she is angry, but she is a big girl and is living as hooker for past 3 years. So I found the the whole affair very fake.

She came out of the box running, winning an Oscar for her film debut and has been struggling for respect as an actress ever since, having been unable to capitalize on FUNNY GIRL. She came close with THE WAY WE WERE, but continued to allude the respect her talent merited. Barbra Streisand finally found a plum role, hired a talented director, surrounded herself with a superb supporting cast, and handed in the best performance of her career in NUTS, an intense and riveting drama definitely not for all tastes but a bold viewing choice for fans of the performer and not-quite-sold film goers who are willing to have an open mind and give her a chance. Streisand wisely put a portion of her ego in check and had the sense to hire the gifted Martin Ritt (HUD; NORMA RAE)to guide her in this intense drama about a prostitute named Claudia Draper, whose explosive temper and outrageous personality are misinterpreted as mental illness and finds herself committed and deemed incapable of standing trial when she is arrested for murdering one of her johns (Leslie Nielsen). What I love about this film is that it presents the audience with evidence to support both sides and then allows the film-goer to make their own decision as to whether or not Claudia is crazy. As the details of Claudia's life unfold before us, evidence definitely supports mental defect, but Claudia says she is perfectly sane and wants her day in court because she killed the john in self-defense. Though Streisand has allowed Ritt to direct, Streisand the producer's presence is definitely felt, especially during Claudia's final monologue in court, shot in loving close-up. Streisand is backed up by a first rate cast including Richard Dreyfuss as her defense attorney, Maureen Stapleton as her mother, and Karl Malden as her stepfather, but this Streisand's show all the way, a searing and extraordinary performance that permeates the screen and scratches at your heart. For Streisand fans, a must.

After viewing this superior film, a viewer might wonder where in blazes the original idea came from; The Twilight Zone or ripped from todays headlines. This film is laden with so much talent I'm surprised it didn't establish itself as a mega movie. The premise is that of a talented lawyer, Aaron Levinsky, ably played by Richard Dreyfuss, who is forcibly thrust into a competency case which he does not want. His adversary is a formidably D.A, Francis MacMillan (Robert Webber) who has spent a considerable amount of time putting unwanted criminals and mental undesirables, behind bars. Thus he sees no reason why he should spend more time than necessary on a simple case of mental incompetency. Unfortunately for him the woman in question is spirited, independent Claudia Draper, (Barbra Streisand) who is desperate to have her day in court. Arrayed against her aside from the D.A. are her loving parents, Karl Malden as Arthur Kirk and Maureen Stapleton as Rose Kirk, who guard a terrible family secret. In addition, there is formidable Eli Wallach as Dr. Herbert A. Morrison, a psychiatrist who is convinced that Draper is insane. In Claudia's eyes, everyone seems hell bent on having her locked up in insane asylum. The courtroom drama is superior as Judge Stanley Murdoch, (James Whitmore ) tries to discover why the authorities want Draper incarcerated. A most convincing performance by all to create a memorable film. ****