Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsIronweed (1987) More at IMDbPro »
| Videos |
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
William Kennedy (novel)
William Kennedy (screenplay)
Release Date:
February 1988 (USA) more
Plot:
A schizophrenic drifter spends Halloween in his home town after returning there for the first time in decades. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Streep Nom #7-8: The Abundant Riches of 1987-88
(From FilmExperience. 5 July 2009, 3:00 PM, PDT)
Streep at 60: Chamaeleonidae Erotica
(From FilmExperience. 30 June 2009, 6:29 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Not for the faint of heart more (30 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jack Nicholson | ... | Francis Phelan | |
| Meryl Streep | ... | Helen Archer | |
| Carroll Baker | ... | Annie Phelan | |
| Michael O'Keefe | ... | Billy Phelan | |
| Diane Venora | ... | Margaret 'Peg' Phelan | |
| Fred Gwynne | ... | Oscar Reo | |
| Margaret Whitton | ... | Katrina Dougherty | |
| Tom Waits | ... | Rudy | |
| Jake Dengel | ... | Pee Wee | |
| Nathan Lane | ... | Harold Allen | |
| James Gammon | ... | Reverend Chester | |
| Will Zahrn | ... | Rowdy Dick | |
| Laura Esterman | ... | Nora Lawlor | |
| Joe Grifasi | ... | Jack | |
| Hy Anzell | ... | Rosskam |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
143 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
In the trolley car scene, mounted members of the New York National Guard were played by members of the New York State Police Mounted Unit, since disbanded. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: When the vigilantes' cars approach the hobo camp, they are observed across the steel-ribbed top of a boxcar with no running board, impossible in 1938. more
Quotes:
Helen: What if I did drink too much wine? Whose business is that anyway? Who knows how much I didn't drink, huh? more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Time Chasers (#9.21)" (1997) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (30 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Ironweed (1987)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Filming In Albany | chickyfornia |
| Coming out on DVD! | molly-tobin |
| After Meryl Sings 'He's Me Pal' | cwa2011 |
| piano piece | deltoscano |
| Ironweed dvd's available | frns-2 |
| He's Me Pal | Lukerdog |
Recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Die Blechtrommel | The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne | My Life So Far | My Own Private Idaho | Slaughterhouse-Five |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |


Have you ever wondered what's it's like to be homeless? To most of us, it's as foreign an existence as the medieval world of Hugh Capet. And yet, it's a way of life that's within reach of all of us. And I'm not talking about its physical proximity, about the unfortunates we pass on the streets with their bed rolls on their backs: on the contrary, I'm referring to its spiritual, psychological proximity, to all the rest of us, who, given the right circumstances, could give up on our cheery Western materialist society and wander off into the shadows.
Ironweed takes its viewers into that shadowy world of the rail yards, cardboard shantytowns, underpasses, and abandoned automobiles, and shows us incisive glimpses of how a person arrives there. Featuring what I think are the very best performances by Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, Ironweed gets us deep into the sooty, grimy, bilious skin of the two `hobos.' Like Schindler's List, Ironweed is dark poetry. When the movie is over, you're haunted for days by the imagery.
Set in Albany during the Great Depression, Ironweed delivers not an ounce of moralizing. It's like a clinical exposition of the homeless person's entire life, both from without, and within. On the outside, of course, there's the Depression: a society doing the best it can to get by. From the `hobo's' point of view, one feels the implicit violence of a culture taught to view others as economic instruments of their own survival. The homeless, of course, are on the bottom end of the food chain. On the inside, Ironweed takes us into the intense pain of dashed hopes and expectations. From within and without, the homeless are caught in a whirling vortex that only grinds them down deeper and deeper into despair, the type that Kierkegaard's describes in `Sickness unto Death.' It's where intense poverty is not just physical, but spiritual.
This is a terrific movie; but, it's not for the faint of heart.