Up the Sandbox

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 a top 70's flick and highly underrated. I can imagine that it caused a stir in its release and still puts some viewers off. If David E. Kelley didn't get ideas for Ally McBeal from this, I'll go hee! Wonderful performance by Babs and hits the mark nicely.

"Up the Sandbox" could be a bigger classic if it had a better development of its ideas while telling the near-crazed ramblings of a neurotic housewife (Barbra Streisand) who has an emotional breakdown that shelters her from reality, shifting from delusional grandiosity to the real chaos of dealing with husband (David Selby), kids, a dominating mother (Jane Hoffman), and helpless friends. Irvin Kershner's film doesn't have a fine balance between comedy and drama, and we depend so much on an unreliable and frustrated lead character that there are times it's difficult to know what exactly does she want from life and relationships, what's real and what's not. I'd like to imagine what Woody Allen would turn if having the chance to direct this material (pity he only deals with his own material).

It's not a total mess since there are noble messages intertwined through it all, and there are moments of true brilliance (the exchange between Barbra and her husband's lover was hilarious as both women accept the fact of one another), wild mayhem (Fidel Castro becoming a female with a world domination where women rule the world), and pure outrageous fun (her parents anniversary being ruined because she refused to give the only thing her mother wanted in order to be truly happy).

If the lady's wildest dreams are fun to watch despite some nightmarish bits, the reality of it all is unappealing and nothing gets solved.

The film's idea seems to defend that once a woman gets married her dreams and wishes are inexistent as she needs to accomodate her family before herself, and to fight such notion are pointless and selfish acts. Her only comfort comes from dreams where she rejects the possibility of having a third kid, or finding solutions to improve the female cause, or commit a random terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty. We keep waiting, with anxious hopes, that one day she'll wake up and finally act, do something different. But at the end of it all, there's no pay-off to her situation and it's frustrating - sure it can be said it was a realistic portrayal of its period and that audiences of then should know how to change such scenario.

By itself, I tried to like it but couldn't. If comparing a key scenario, the theme was better presented in "Diary of a Mad Housewife" (to Kerhsner's film disadvantage, I saw the other film a few days earlier and it stayed in my head). A few points from that film: worst husband, worst kids and the woman's little relief was having an affair with a careless chauvinist lover. Here, Barbra's dream of another man in her life comes with the presence of a charming university teacher and even that slight chance of affair is ruined because his date invitation for both was attending the Castro political meeting where she cried against his revolution. Had not seen "Diary of..." it might impact less the difficulties I had with this one, and it'd become something manageable.

Fine performances all around, but nothing so outstanding that requires new viewers to it. You won't be missing much, except for the really funny sequences. 5/10.

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.

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!