The screenplay by Richard LaGravenese is loosely based on the 1958 French film Le Miroir à deux faces written by André Cayatte and Gérard Oury.

Also starring are Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, George Segal, Mimi Rogers, Brenda Vaccaro, and Lauren Bacall.

Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and Bryan Adams composed the film's theme song, "I Finally Found Someone".

Rose Morgan, a middle-aged English literature professor at Columbia University, lives with her vain, overbearing, widowed mother, Hannah.

Left in a state of frustration and rejection, Gregory places a personal ad that reads, "Columbia University professor (male) seeks woman interested in common goals and companionship.

While discussing Gregory's European book tour at breakfast, Rose asks him if now is enough warning to tell him she would like to have sex that night, to which he nervously agrees.

Deciding to undergo a makeover, Rose changes her diet, exercises, has her hair restyled, and starts wearing form-fitting clothing and more flattering makeup.

[5] Notably, Dudley Moore was fired after failing to remember his lines, being replaced by George Segal, while cinematographer Dante Spinotti and film editor Alan Heim dropped out on their own.

[6] In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the film's first hour "light and amusing" but added, "then [Barbra Streisand] impresses her audience with good will hubris that goes through the roof.

[8] In the San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Guthmann described the film as "a silly affirmation fantasy ... that Streisand ... uses to prove she's really beautiful, funny and worthy of being loved, gosh darn it ... hasn't she returned to the theme of Homely Girl Redeemed, and crowned herself the victor, countless times?

Look back and you'll see that Streisand's career, from the beginning, was one long battle cry for geeks and wallflowers and Jewish girls with big noses - a series of wish-fulfillment scenarios in which she, the perennial underdog, triumphs by dint of talent, chutzpah and a really great personality ... in its first half The Mirror is a romantic-comic delight: nicely directed ... well-acted by a terrific cast and peppered with great one-liners ... by the second half ... the movie has disintegrated into a humorless, drawn-out plea for reassurance".

A staggeringly obsessive expression of the importance of appearances, good looks and being adored, Barbra Streisand's third directorial outing is also, incidentally, a very old-fashioned wish-fulfillment romantic comedy that has been directed and performed in the broadest possible manner ... From the beginning, it is clear that Streisand intends to hit every point squarely on the head and maybe bang it a few extra times for good measure.

Every gag, every line and every emotional cue is pitched to the top balcony so no one will miss a thing, and there are quite a few moments of self-examination and discovery where one nearly expects the star to break into song to underline what she is really feeling ... the subject of the director's uninterrupted gaze.

Lit and posed in an old-time movie star way you rarely see anymore, she plays out her career-long is-she-or-isn't-she-beautiful comic psychodrama one more time, with the girlish uncertainties wiped out with the speed of a costume change.

[10] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated the film C− and added, "We know these two people are lonely and afraid of love and deserve our empathy.

[11] In The Washington Post, Rita Kempley called the film "Barbra Streisand's latest folly" and added, "Although meant to be a bubbly romantic comedy, the movie is actually a very public tragedy for Streisand, who still can't quite believe that she's not Michelle Pfeiffer ... at 54, it's time to get over girlish hang-ups, forget the noble schnoz and thank God that unlike Cher, you're still recognizable".

But for those who make crucifix signs with their fingers when her name is mentioned, this is definitely one to miss ... the running time is hardly helped by a plethora of strategically framed shots of Rose's legs, new hairstyle, luscious lips and misty-blue eyes, after she has undergone a physical makeover.