HEARTBURN
Heartburn (15) (Mike Nichols. US. 1986) Meryl Streep. JackNicholson. JeffDaniels. Stockard Channing. 110 mins. When Nora Ephron divorced famedWatergatejournalistCarl Bernstein shedidn'tjust rungrievingto the nearestshrinkbutchosethe more lucrativetherapy ofwriting a bestselling bookthatairedalltheir dirty linen. Now. Hollywood has filmed Heartburn withJackNicholson following in Dustin Hoffman's footsteps and Meryl Streep. who appeared in Ephron s Silkwood script. as the wronged party. One suspects that it is a lartrom impartial accountoftheir liaisonbutitisstillverypleasurable viewing.
Understandablywaryoflegal recriminations. Heartburn fictionalises events and bills itselfasa ‘modern portraitol marriage. We are told that 500/ooffirstmarriagesand4UO/o of secondmarriages end indivorce. However. when New York cookery writerRachel Samstatand Washington columnistMark Forman meetandlall in lovetheydecidethatthey are strong enoughto buckthetrend. Theymarry. renovate a dream house in Georgetown. have a baby and are blissfully contentwiththeir happy-ever-afterlile together. Then. when Rachel is seven months pregnant with their second child she discovers that Mark has been having an affair withanotherwoman. The idyll is over.
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The basic material of Heartburn is somewhat shop~soiled but what gives it class and distinction is the powerful cast. Carly Simon's fetching music and the spritely satirical touch of director Mike Nichols who remains a master of the acid jibe at a certain smug. bourgeois American world.
There are able supporting performances from the likes of Jeff Daniels and Maureen Stapleton but the dominating central duo of Nicholson and Streep are the ones to watch as they give consumate displays of how charisma and talent can transform rather ordinary roles into unmissable
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FILM LIST
thespian fireworks. Maternal Meryl suffers mightily. travelling the gamut of euphoria to resentment. as she learns that no one is exempt from the epidemic oladultery and divorce that is rampant among their friends. Nicholson. as the predatory celebrity. is given less to do but still has the wickedest eyebrows in the West and one glorious moment when he breaks into a Broadway melody in salute to the announcement of his impending fatherhood. With company as good as theirs who cares if Heartburn is ultimately rather lightweight and superficial. (Allan Hunter)
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- The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
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