Up the Sandbox (1972) YIFY - Download Movie TORRENT

"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.

Barbra Streisand has always been more of a movie star than an actress, which is fine for fans like me but can make her movies difficult for non-fans to enjoy. There are exceptions, of course: "The Main Event," which was just plain insufferable for fans and non-fans alike, and "Up the Sandbox," a forgotten gem in the Streisand filmography that even the non-fans can appreciate.Ironically, Streisand gives her most naturalistic performance in a movie about a housewife who frequently escapes into fantasies, like debating Fidel Castro and joining a band of revolutionaries who blow up the Statue of Liberty. It's also ironic that "Sandbox," the first movie made by Streisand's Barwood Productions, is one of the few times she seems to have checked her ego at the door, more concerned with embodying a character than how she's lit. This was the movie for which she deserved a second Best Actress nomination, even more so than "The Way We Were."Not only is Streisand's performance more natural, the fantasy elements seem organic in the way director Irvin Kershner introduces them. There are no swirling blurs or harp music, heretofore the usual way filmmakers signified a character was fantasizing. Instead, Margaret does something mundane, like going to her husband's (David Selby) office, but upon seeing he's been chatting with an attractive female colleague decides to voice here suspicions about an affair. The confrontation takes a strange turn and then we learn the scene was all in Margaret's mind. This approach to handling fantasy is so commonplace now that it's even been employed in pornography, but apparently it was enough to confuse audiences when this movie was released with a resounding thud in 1972. (The movie's poorly conceived trailer didn't help.)Of course, a movie's commercial success has little bearing on its quality and "Up the Sandbox"'s quality is far greater than its box office take. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch - the tone is often spotty and some of the fantasy sequences are a bit silly - but "Up the Sandbox" deserves higher acclaim than it receives. Also appearing in the movie are future sitcom stars Isabel ("The Jeffersons") Sanford as the maid of Margaret's overbearing mother (Jane Hoffman) and Conrad ("Diff'rent Strokes") Bain, as Margaret's bored, chauvinistic gynecologist.

Up the Sandbox

1972

Action / Comedy / Drama

Up the Sandbox

1972

Action / Comedy / Drama

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Movie Reviews

Up my nerves, more like it

'Sandbox' a Barbra Streisand Film Non-fans Can Appreciate

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