Line #18 Film/ThePrinceOfTides


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_4099.jpeg]]
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3	''The Prince of Tides'' is a 1991 romantic drama film [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on the novel of the same name]] by Pat Conroy. It was directed by and stars Creator/BarbraStreisand.
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5	Tom Wingo (Creator/NickNolte) a teacher and football coach in South Carolina, is called to New York to tend to his twin sister, Savannah (Creator/MelindaDillon), who has attempted suicide. There, he meets with Savannah's counselor, Dr. Susan Lowenstein (Streisand), with whom he recounts Savannah's and his own traumatic childhoods and falls in love.
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8	!! The Prince of Tropes:
9	* AbusiveParents: The Wingo children all suffer from the abuse of their father.
10	* AdaptationDyeJob: Sallie was a brunette in the novel, and Dr. Lowenstein clearly described as RavenHairIvorySkin.
11	* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Dr. Lowenstein's therapy emphasizes childhood trauma and dream interpretation.
12	* BigBrotherWorship: Tom always felt that he didn't need to be strong since his older brother Luke, [[CoolBigBro who looked after them]] and even [[BigBrotherInstinct would defend the family against their father]] [[spoiler: and rapists]].
13	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Tom's stepfather is this. He appears to be a genteel and wealthy SouthernGentleman, but raises a bully and doesn't hesitate to hit Tom and threaten him and his family.
14	** Tom's mother Lila in the book.
15	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Savannah recovers and Tom returns home to his wife, leaving Dr. Lowenstein behind.]]
16	* BrokenBird: Savannah, after a childhood of abuse from her father [[spoiler: and the rape she experienced with her twin brother and mother]]. [[spoiler: In the novel, Dr. Lowenstein is one.]]
17	* BungledSuicide: Savannah goes into a coma, but does not successfully kill herself [[spoiler: Tom says this was not her first time]].
18	%%* CompressedAdaptation: A necessity; the novel is quite the {{Doorstopper}}.
19	* DaddysGirl: Tom dotes on his three daughters.
20	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Probably easier to name everyone who isn't.
21	* DrivenToSuicide: Savannah ends up in the hospital due to a recent attempt which kickstarts the plot.
22	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Tom remarks that there is nothing sexier than a beautiful woman ordering food in French.
23	* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler: After Tom returns to South Carolina after his affair with Lowenstein, he goes back to Sally.]]
24	* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Lowenstein enters into a romantic and sexual relationship with Tom. In real life, this would be a ''massive'' breach of professional ethics for a therapist, and Lowenstein could easily lose her license to practice as a result.
25	%%* GayBestFriend: Eddie.
26	* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Sally's affair with a colleague and Herbert's affair with a fellow musician? Not nearly as sympathetically portrayed as Tom's affair with Dr. Lowenstein.
27	* JewishMother: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Dr. Lowenstein is one of these, which is {{Lampshaded}} by Tom.
28	* LastNameBasis: Very rarely is Dr. Lowenstein referred to by her given name, which is Susan.
29	* PolarOppositeTwins: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. Tom is an energetic, snarky football coach and Savannah is a suicidal poet.
30	* PrecisionFStrike: Dr. Lowenstein gets a good one when she calls out a dinner guest for fucking her husband.
31	* [[spoiler: RapeAsDrama[=/=]spoiler: RapeAsBackstory]]: Tom's recovery of his repressed childhood memory of this leads to a mental breakdown.
32	* RefugeInAudacity: Any of the pranks the three siblings pulled in their youth (which, sadly, are not in the film). This includes: kidnapping an albino porpoise from the Miami Seaquarium.
33	* [[SelfMadeMan Self Made Woman]]: Not mentioned in the movie but Sallie, Tom's wife, grew up as the daughter of impoverished mill-workers, worked her way through college on scholarship, and clawed her way up to a position as a prestigious internist.
34	%%* TheShrink: Dr. Lowenstein is a Type 3.
35	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Any time Tom verbally crosses swords with a woman, be it Sallie, Dr. Lowenstein, his mother, or Savannah. At one point, his mother [[LampshadedTrope offers to get him a spot at a comedy club]].
36	* SouthernFriedGenius: In the novel Tom is consistently reminding Dr. Lowenstein that he graduated college with honors, with a degree in English, and was an English teacher, dedicated to "teaching Southern children to love the language they were born to butcher." In addition to being well-read, he's also a keen chef and loves classical music. And then there's Savannah, the famous poet, as well as Sallie, who's a prestigious doctor.
37	* StepfordSnarker: Tom states that laughing off one's own issues is "the Southern way".
38	%%* StrawFeminist: Dr. Lowenstein has shades of this in the book.
39	* SupremeChef: Tom is quite the cook.

Context Film / ThePrinceOfTides