Heartburn (1986)

An autobiographical look at the breakup of Ephron's marriage to Carl "All the President's Men" Bernstein that was also a best-selling novel. The Ephron character, Rachel is a food writer at... See full summary »

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Nora Ephron (novel), Nora Ephron (screenplay)

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Rachel Samstat
Jack Nicholson	...	Mark Forman
Jeff Daniels	...	Richard
Maureen Stapleton	...	Vera
Stockard Channing	...	Julie Siegel
Richard Masur	...	Arthur Siegel
Catherine O'Hara	...	Betty
Steven Hill	...	Harry Samstat
Milos Forman	...	Dmitri
Mamie Gummer	...	Annie Forman (as Natalie Stern)
Karen Akers	...	Thelma Rice
Aida Linares	...	Juanita
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Della, Harry's Maid
Ron McLarty	...	Det. Andrew O'Brien
Kenneth Welsh	...	Dr. Appel

Storyline

An autobiographical look at the breakup of Ephron's marriage to Carl "All the President's Men" Bernstein that was also a best-selling novel. The Ephron character, Rachel is a food writer at a New York magazine who meets Washington columnist Mark at a wedding and ends up falling in love with him despite her reservations about marriage. They buy a house, have a daughter, and Rachel thinks they are living happily ever after until she discovers that Mark is having an affair while she is waddling around with a second pregnancy.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | columnist | wedding | writer | renovation | 

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Taglines:

Two Oscar Winning Stars Combine With An Oscar Winning Director [UK Theatrical]

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Difícil Arte de Amar

Filming Locations:

Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$25,314,289 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Features the film debut of Kevin Spacey as the subway passenger who robs Meryl Streep's therapy group.

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Goofs

When Rachel begins a tape recording of her life with the baby, she identifies herself as "Rachel Samstat". There is no reason for her to use her maiden name, and in the rest of the movie she uses her married name.

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Quotes

Mark Forman: What the fuck was that?
Rachel Samstat: He has cancer.
Mark Forman: Bullshit.
Rachel Samstat: Mark.
Mark Forman: It's bullshit!
Rachel Samstat: People don't lie about things like that.
Mark Forman: Contractors lie about everything. What'd he say, "I have cancer"?
Rachel Samstat: Exactly.
Mark Forman: Well, he probable meant that "he" has cancer.
Rachel Samstat: Who?
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Yes Sir, That's My Baby"
Performed by Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson

User Reviews

Very Good Drama

Heartburn is probably classified as a "chick flick", but I don't care. It is a very good story about real people living in the real world. I'm sure there are many men out there that would probably fall asleep during this, due to lack of machine gun fire or kung foo fighting. But for women it is a great slice of life piece. I could watch it over and over again. It has some great comedic moments, from Mark (Jack Nicholson) and his friend Arthur (Richard Masur) several times as they have profound discussions about every day things in a Woody Allen type banter. One part that always touches me is when Rachel finds out about Mark's affair and confronts him. A few minutes later she is packing up to leave and we hear Carly Simon's song "Coming Around Again" on the soundtrack. If you listen to the lyrics of the song it perfectly fits the action that is going on at that moment. It helps the viewer understand Rachel's despair. Her idea of the perfect marriage has been shattered.

Anyway, if you want to watch a movie with heart, then this is it. I think many of the people who say this movie is boring or garbage are too used to today's action standards and dismiss it too quickly. By the way, this is also a semi biographical account of now director Nora Ephron's marriage to a Washington journalist. The book is also a good read as well. If you think Mark treated her badly in the movie, it is nothing compared to the book.

In summary, Heartburn is a movie for people who are emotional and intelligent.