A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : SNEAK PREVIEW : The Way She Was May Not Be the Way She Is . . . Oh, Go Ask Nick Nolte

Ever since word got out that Barbra Streisand was going to direct Nick Nolte and star in Pat Conroy’s beloved book “The Prince of Tides,” Hollywood has been unusually curious about how the pairing would turn out. Well, results from the first research screenings are in, and unofficial word is that the movie is very good, and Nick Nolte is great.

Whether acting or directing, La Streisand has always been rapped for ensuring that she shines in her movies at the expense of her co-stars (remember Richard Dreyfuss in “Nuts”?). But in “The Prince of Tides,” Streisand, who plays the New York psychiatrist love interest of Nolte, a down-on-his-luck football coach, reportedly gives a restrained performance while directing Nolte in a brilliant one. Spies at one research screening said that the audience responded to a scene in which Nolte described a rape scene from his character’s childhood. Meanwhile, George Carlin, who’s got a small role in the movie for comic relief, steals his scenes too.

About the only negatives to report is that the movie has what’s described as numerous glamour shots of Streisand’s body parts filmed through what looks like a Vaseline-coated lens.