HEARTBURN

Meryl Streep has starred in two films opposite Jack Nicholson. The first of those films is Heartburn, released in 1986. The two play Rachel Samstat, a food critic, and Mark Forman, a newspaper columnist. They meet at a wedding they are attending in the opening scene. They soon leave the wedding, have sex, get married, and move into a house that requires major renovations. Then their lives carry on. This movie tries very hard to make the intimate and mundane seem interesting, though it doesn’t succeed.

Another example of a great cast trapped in a movie that really goes nowhere. Other actors include Jeff Bridges, Stockard Channing, Maureen Stapleton, Catherine O’Hara, and Richard Masur. The film marks the screen debut of Mamie Gummer (Streep’s real-life daughter) and Kevin Spacey. Additionally, a small role is played by one of my favorite directors, Milos Foreman.

If you have a yearning to see Streep give a great performance in a stale movie, or if you absolutely love the Carly Simon song, “Coming Around Again”, then you might enjoy this film. The movie opens with the song, uses the song throughout the film, and runs its ending credits with it yet again! If neither of those two things particularly appeal to you though, you probably want to give this one a pass.