Heartburn
1986 · 105 min
Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Nora Ephron. Starring Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton.
She's a magazine writer who gives up her career for love and family. He's a playboy newspaper columnist who can't quite give up his old tricks. And if that combination doesn't give a relationship heartburn, nothing will.
Critics 48% · audiences 46% · streaming on Kanopy
What they said about Heartburn
- 1986
a bitter, sour movie about two people who are only marginally interesting
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times - 1986
should have based her story on somebody else's marriage. That way, she could have provided the distance and perspective that good comedy needs.
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times - 1986
The movie is full of talented people, who...are fun to watch, but after a while the scenes that don't point anywhere begin to add up, and you start asking yourself: 'What is this movie about?' You are still asking when it's over, and by then a flatness, a disappointment, is likely to have settled over the fillips you'd enjoyed
— Pauline Kael, The New Yorker - 1986
Lightweight, superficial story is supercharged by two charismatic stars, who make it a must see.
— Leonard Maltin
How it got made
The film was shot on location in Manhattan, Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia. Jack Nicholson replaced Mandy Patinkin after a day of shooting. Nora Ephron's screenplay is based on her 1983 autobiographical novel, and inspired by her tempestuous second marriage to Carl Bernstein and his affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of former British Prime Minister James Callaghan.
The film's music was composed by Carly Simon. Her songs "Coming Around Again" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" are included in the 1987 Grammy-nominated album Coming Around Again.
At the box office
Heartburn opened in 843 theaters in the United States on July 25, 1986, and earned $5,783,079 during its opening weekend, ranking number two at the box office behind Aliens. It eventually grossed a total of $25,314,189 in the US and Canada. Internationally it grossed $27.3 million for a worldwide total of $52.6 million.