Trailer—Heartburn

Heartburn

"Heartburn" has Mick Nichols at the helm with Streep and Nicholson starring and an excellent supporting cast including a bit debut by Kevin Spacy. In spite of all that, the film has only managed lukewarm commentary from critics and public alike. Taking a somewhat cynical look at marriage as it follows one couple (Streep & Nicholson) from nuptials through the birth of two children including infidelity, this well crafted flick muddles comedy with drama to a nebulous end. An enjoyable watch for mature people who've been there, "Heartburn" will likely disappoint others because of its uneventfulness and lack of purpose.

When I watch a movie I always find myself looking at the number of Oscar winners, for acting & directing, are in the movie. The Oscar winners could be for performances either prior to or subsequent to their performance in the movie I'm watching. This one features Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Mercedes Ruehl, Maureen Stapleton, Kevin Spacey, Milos Forman [acting not directing] and Mike Nichols. Just goes to show that outstanding actors and directors need a good story and/or script to make a good movie. Although Nora Ephron has been nominated for 3 Oscars for screenplays she has written, this one just didn't do it for me and, from the tone of most of the comments, for many other people. Of course, I'd enjoy watching Streep & Nicholson reading the phonebook.

Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and Stockard Channing make this 1986 film worth watching. Nora Ephron wrote her own story here in Heartburn of her marriage to Bernstein, the Washington Post reporter who was famous during Watergate. She had doubts about marrying him, but did anyway. They sang together which is great seeing Nicholson sing. They have a baby girl and are living in DC. Ephron is from a writing family in New York City. She starts to tape her thinking about her situation. It becomes a book then this movie. Meryl Streep was actually pregnant and her real daughter plays Annie. Bernstein never stops cheating, and Ephron returns to her New York writing job. Streep is a great impersonator and if you have seen clips of Nora Ephron you can see that Streep has captured her. Streep is her best when impersonating. One notch more and it would be Saturday Night Live.

When the film begins Mark Forman (Jack Nicholson) and Rachel Samstat (Meryl Streep) meet at a common friend's wedding, they date and after a while they marry too. They move to Washington and have a child, but when another's on the way Rachel discovers he's cheating on her. From then on Rachel goes on a process of discovery of herself, frequent meetings with her friends and, eventually change of life. Meryl Streep is the lead and as usual she is very good. Her performance is very heartfelt about a woman in search of herself after her husband's affair. Jack Nicholson is great as always, and they have fine support by familiar faces such as Jeff Daniels, Catherine O'Hara and Kevin Spacey in his debut. The story is very sad at times, but this is only a minor complaint since the movie was good. The song about the Itzy Bitzy Spider was very funny as soundtrack for the movie. Overall, a bit sad but well acted and directed. And the story looks that of real life situations.

I love many things about this movie - first of all the cast is complete perfection (so many Oscar winners!); the comedy is funny without being stupid; and the end is not sugarcoated in the least. I love anything Streep does, and Nicholson really doesn't register that much. I think he replaced another actor, but he certainly didn't take this part and run with it. He doesn't even get to grin. I also have to mention Catherine O'Hara, who is hysterical, and Anna Maria Horsford.

I can watch this movie over and over again and will never get tired of it.Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson at their best! I originally loved the book as well. The ups and downs of a marriage juggling carreers,pregnancy,adulterous spouses,social events etc is really brought up in a masterful but still truthful way. Streep was actually pregnant for real in the movie.The subtext she brings out in her acting and all the little details just make you love her more and more. Her culinary tricks makes you run for your notebook.I actually get so hungry for Carbonara whenever I watch this movie. It is full of tears and laughter and you can't help loving it. I take this movie to my heart forever.

It is some years since I saw this film, but I definitely thought at the time it was vastly under-rated, and now that I have seen the voter's scores for this, I am surprised all over again. Obviously, I have to log off and go to the video store to refresh my memory, but: the story was great, the song Joni Mitchell contributed was one of her all-time bests, and how could Meryl Streep ever be in anything that wasn't worthwhile? By the way, the book was better, punctuated with recipes. It is an autobiographical tale, which bursts the balloon of the Watergate heroes and is definitely one of the most entertaining and realistic of the cinematic versions of life and love.

Nora Ephron adapts her best-selling novel (a transparent dramatization of her failed marriage to reporter Carl Bernstein) to the big screen, but in the process falls into the same trap that snares too many filmed versions of popular fiction. In a nutshell, the movie is all dialogue and precious little depth, presenting a bare bones account of marital love and infidelity that skims lightly over the salient points of the relationship without ever scratching any dramatic surface. A large part of its appeal (if not its only attraction) lies in watching the not inconsiderable combined talents of Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, but the popularity of the two stars only undermines their ability (with a script this thin, at any rate) to effectively ply their trade. Viewers will see the actors, not the character each is supposedly portraying, and if proof were needed try to recall in detail afterward anything about their respective roles.