Heartburn (1986)

A food writer pregnant with her second baby finds out her husband is having an affair.

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Nora Ephron (novel), Nora Ephron (screenplay)

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

f rated | washington monument washington d.c. | marriage | wedding | columnist | 

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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:

El difícil arte de amar

Filming Locations:

Apthorp Apartments - 2211 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,783,079, 27 July 1986

Gross USA:

$25,314,189

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,314,189

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

Third of four cinema movie collaborations of Jack Nicholson and Mike Nichols. The others being Wolf (1994), The Fortune (1975), and Carnal Knowledge (1971).

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Goofs

After saying she was making a key lime pie for dinner, Rachel is seen at a produce dept buying regular limes, rather than key limes.

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Quotes

Mark Forman: He has an unlisted address.
Rachel Samstat: What are you talking about?
Mark Forman: Oh, well, it's the latest thing.
Rachel Samstat: What kind of person has an unlisted address?
Mark Forman: I'll tell you what kind person. The kind that doesn't want to be dead. The kind people are trying to kill all the time.
Rachel Samstat: Why are you angry at me for?
Mark Forman: I'm not angry at you.
Rachel Samstat: Then what you shouting at me for?
Mark Forman: Because you're the only one that's here.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Meryl Streep/Jerrod Carmichael/Albert Hammond Jr. (2015)

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Soundtracks

You Baby (Nobody But You)
Written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri

User Reviews

Honey, we need to talk ...

Like a good relationship that goes sour, "Heartburn" is impossible to love but hard to write off entirely. Despite its fine cast and script by Nora Ephron, the film is disjointed and, ultimately, dishonest.

Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson play two Washington journalists who meet at a wedding, and — seemingly in the next scene — are saying their own vows. The developments that follow in their relationship are just as abrupt and just as believable. The rapid-fire pace of their many separations and reconciliations stretches credibility to the limit, and it's hard to generate any interest in these characters when it was never clear what drew them together in the first place.

Streep does a fine job as magazine writer Rachel, but Nicholson's cad is all too familiar in his role of Mark, the womanizing columnist. Supporting players Stockard Channing, Maureen Stapleton, Jeff Daniels and Kevin Spacey, while uniformly excellent, seem underutilized and distract from the main plot.

"Heartburn" is worth watching, if only for its strong cast, but it's as memorable as leftover lasagna.