HEARTBURN

Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep

HEARTBURN   (1986). Director: Mike Nichols. 

Food writer Rachel (Meryl Streep of Postcards from the Edge) and political columnist Mark (Jack Nicholson of Carnal Knowledge) get married, buy a house that needs a great deal of work, and eventually have a cute little daughter (played winningly by Streep's own daughter). Gossip at parties tends to revolve around which spouse is cheating, but Rachel -- who is pregnant again -- is shocked to discover that Mark is fooling around with a notorious Washington hostess. She is importuned to come back to Mark -- but do they really have a chance or should she face the fact that she may have married the wrong person?

Kevin Spacey 

Based on Nora Ephron's autobiographical novel, Heartburn has its amusing and poignant moments, and the acting is adequate -- Nicholson had already entered the familiar "Nicholson mode" by this time -- but director Mike Nichols favors overly long takes that throw off the pacing and actually make the film kind of tedious at times. Because this is based on Ephron's book -- she also wrote the screenplay -- we don't learn that much about husband Mark (the real-life Carl Bernstein) or whatever reasons he may have had for embarking upon affairs (not that some husbands necessarily need reasons). Steven Hill, Maureen Stapleton, and Stockard Channing have solid featured roles, but the supporting cast member who really stands out is a very young Kevin Spacey [Beyond the Sea] as a subway rider who later on robs Rachel's therapy group at gunpoint! 

Verdict: Carly Simon's music may be the best thing about the movie. **1/2. 

MANHATTAN

Allen, Keaton, Murphy, Hoffman

MANHATTAN  (1979 ). Director: Woody Allen.Written by Allen and Marshall Brickman.

"I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics."

"My first wife was a kindergarten teacher. She got into drugs, moved to L.A. became a moonie. Now she's a William Morris agent."

41-year-old Isaac (Woody Allen), whose wife, Jill (Meryl Streep), left him for another woman, Connie (Karen Ludwig), is now dating an adoring 17-year-old named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway). Isaac's buddy, Yale (Michael Murphy), who is married to Emily (Anne Byrne Hoffman), is having an affair with Mary (Diane Keaton), but Isaac and Mary find themselves drawn to each other, especially as Yale shows no signs of leaving his wife, and Isaac is all too aware of the age difference between him and Tracy. As Manhattan begins, it seems to be a love valentine to New York City, but as the movie proceeds it becomes clear that it is just another Woody Allen Movie with the same fake, self-serving Woody Allen-type characters.you see in most of his movies. This "Manhattan" is strictly for and about rich white upper eastsiders -- you won't see a Black, Latino or Asian face throughout the movie (although there is a gay couple, as mentioned)! 

As expected, there's some good dialogue, and the acting is mostly on target, although Keaton tries to be amusing and generally fails. A built-in problem with Allen's movies is that, while the real Allen probably has no problem getting dates because he's rich and famous, having all these women throwing themselves at a less successful fellow who looks like Allen is highly improbable. Given what we now know of Allen's private life, it's easy to see why the plot goes in certain directions. Bella Abzug has a cameo and the repulsive Wallace Shawn, even less attractive than Allen, shows up very briefly as Keaton's ex-husband. Back in the seventies, Allen's films were seen as sharp and sophisticated and altogether wonderful, dealing frankly with adult subject matter, or what passes for same, but many of them don't really hold up and are due for reevaluation. Manhattan does its best to avoid the real dramatic scenes, especially in the depiction of Yale's discarded wife. The ending to the film makes Isaac seem even yuckier.

Verdict: Allen has made some good movies, but this isn't one of them. This should have been called A Nerd's Fantasy Life. **.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE

Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990). Director: Mike Nichols.

Sent into rehab after a nearly fatal overdose, actress Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) is told that the insurance company will only allow her to make her next picture if she moves in her with mother, star Doris Mann (Shirley MacLaine), who is an alcoholic! Suzanne and her mother have a loving but difficult relationship with the latter wanting success for her daughter despite the occasional bout of jealousy, and the former bridling against her mother's perpetual, well-meaning "advice.".Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Carrie Fisher, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds, this is obviously about the two actresses, although it could just as easily be about the real Shirley MacLaine and her daughter, Sachi Parker (not to suggest that Parker was ever in rehab).The two leading ladies are both excellent, perhaps making their characters more sympathetic than they might have been in real life, Dennis Quaid is notable as a man who (seemingly) gets involved with Suzanne, and there's a nice bit from Annette Bening as another of his girlfriends. It's delightful to see Mary Wickes as the grandmother, whose relationship with Doris is as problematic as Doris' with Suzanne. Michael Ontkean [Making Love] is seen all too briefly as Suzanne's co-star in the cop thriller she's making. Rob Reiner, Gene Hackman [The Firm], and Richard Dreyfuss [Piranha] are all effective in important character parts. The musical highlights of this very entertaining movie include MacLaine nailing "I'm Still Here" from Follies, and Streep doing a snappy rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" for the finale.

Verdict: Mothers and daughters, neurotic Hollywood-style. ***.

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS (2016). Director: Stephen Frears.

Florence Foster Jenkins is loosely based on the life of the title character (Meryl Streep), a silly woman in 1944 New York who fancied herself a patron of the arts but may have been more interested in promoting herself despite a complete lack of talent. Was she delusional; was it all a big goof? Does anybody care? Frankly, a movie about a genuine opera star whose life is full of drama would have been a better bet than this mediocre film about the awful-sounding Jenkins. A bigger problem with the movie is that the characters are one-dimensional and in the case of  her "boyfriend" and manager (Hugh Grant of Love, Actually), highly unlikable. Streep, although miscast, isn't bad and Grant is fine, but the picture is stolen by Simon Helberg in his winning portrayal of Jenkins' befuddled accompanist, Cosme McMoon. But despite some funny moments and bits that attempt to be touching, this is not really a movie about people that anyone could give a fig about. Sadly, Streep has made worse, equally superficial movies, but she also appears in good ones such as Doubt. There was a play about Jenkins, as well as a French film based on her life, and a 2016 docudrama entitled The Florence Jenkins Story. Enough! Stephen Frears also directed Philomena.

Verdict: Hardly worth the time to sit through. **.

INTO THE WOODS

INTO THE WOODS (2014). Director: Rob Marshall.

This adaptation of the Broadway musical by James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim and Jonathan Tunick takes several fairy tale characters -- Jack (and the Beanstalk); Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and the Prince (Chris Pine); Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy); and Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford); etc -- and has them interacting in the same story. The thrust of the first half is the appearance of a witch (Meryl Streep), who tells a childless couple, the Baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt), that the wife will be able to conceive if she and her husband can get the witch certain items by midnight. All seems to end "happily ever after" until the second half, when little Jack (Daniel Huddlestone) and everyone else are threatened by the monstrous appearance of a lady giant (Frances de la Tour), who wants vengeance because Jack caused the death of her husband. As with the play, the first half may seem a little off-putting to viewers what with its various storylines eventually converging, but the second half is more effective. Sondheim's score has a little too much of his repetitive patter-type songs, but there are such fine numbers as "Agony" (beautifully "staged" and well-acted by Pine of Star Trek and Billy Magnussen); the title tune; "No One is Alone:" etc. although I confess I wish they hadn't cut that dirge to Jack's cow, "Farewell Old Friend." All of the performances are excellent, with Streep really delivering on her "Last Midnight" number, and young Huddlestone certainly scoring as Jack. Some supporting roles are filled quite nicely by Tracey Ullman as Jack's mother, and Christine Baranski [Bowfinger] as the wicked stepmother. Johnny Depp isn't bad as the wolf as he sings and dances to "Hello, Little Girl" (but you have to wonder if perhaps the movie eroticses children). Visually arresting throughout. The quasi-religious overtones are a bit sappy at times. Rob Marshall also directed the musical adaptation of Nine.

Verdict: Not for all tastes for sure, but effective, well-acted, and intriguing. ***

JULIE AND JULIA

JULIE AND JULIA (2009). Writer/Director: Nora Ephron. 

Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is dissatisfied with her job sitting in a cubicle helping people deal with the after-effects of 9/11, so what earth-shaking, socially relevant idea does she come up with? She decides to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's cook book and write a blog about it. You would think someone -- anyone -- connected with this film would see the sheer bad taste in beginning such a fluff movie with references to 9/11 -- and how superficial the nitwit lead character is -- but instead we get a nearly two hour movie that strains for relevance [Child's husband appears before the House UnAmerican committee in the 50's] and comes up short. The film keeps going back and forth between Julia Child's early life and Julie Powell's modern-day blogging "adventure" and is based on Child's memoir and a book the real-life Powell put together about her blog. Frankly, episodes of Child's French Chef TV program were more entertaining than this very low-concept movie, to put it mildly. Amy Adams is quite irritating as the simpering Powell. Streep does a fairly good impression of Julia Child, but the actress should definitely pick her film projects more carefully. It's almost as if Streep simply won't turn down any script. The real Julia Child apparently didn't think much of Powell's blog and wouldn't have approved of this rip-off movie. Julie and Julia might make you hungry -- get a copy of Child's book instead of sitting through this dull time-waster. 

Verdict: You probably shouldn't make movies out of blogs. *.

DOUBT

DOUBT (2008). Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, from his play.

Sister Beauvier (Meryl Streep) , the principal of the St. Nicholas School in the Bronx in 1964, is convinced -- without solid evidence -- that Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is having an inappropriate relationship with the school's only black student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster). Beauvier is a bit taken aback -- and appalled -- when the boy's mother (Viola Davis) doesn't even seem to care that much, because she also thinks her son is "that way;" apparently she, like many people back then and even today, sees little difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. The question is: is Flynn a child molester (assuming anything inappropriate actually took place between him and the boy) or does the guilty way he acts have more to do with the possibility that he is simply gay and deeply ashamed of it (as a priest today might be, let alone in 1964)? Flynn may have sensed that Donald was also homosexual (although the boy betrays no outwardly stereotypical signs) and been drawn to him out of sympathy -- not sexuality. Of course the irony is that Sister Beauvier would never have appreciated or cared about the difference. It's the acting by Streep, Hoffman and Davis -- as well as Amy Adams as Sister James -- that keep this very absorbing picture humming, but it also has a multi-faceted [if imperfect] screenplay by Shanley, touching upon everything from child molestation and gay [not pedophile] priests to the sexist patriarchy of the church and its condescending attitude toward the sisters and indeed all women. Streep at times seems a little one-dimensionally villainous, but her performance is certainly vivid; Hoffman and Davis are superb.

Verdict: Flawed, perhaps, but also intriguing and worthwhile. ***1/2.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006). Director: David Frankel.

A young woman who wants to become a serious journalist inexplicably goes to work for a slick fashion magazine run by the nearly inhuman Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), whose personal assistant she becomes. Priestly emerges as so unpleasant that you can't understand it when the young lady develops any sympathy for her, but Miranda saves her worst loathsomeness for afterward, selling out a supposed friend to save herself. This movie holds the attention in a limited way, but is distinctly minor and not especially funny. Streep isn't bad, Anne Hathaway offers a winning performance as her assistant, and Stanley Tucci plays the stereotypical gay-guy-in-fashion as well as anyone could. [In a sadly hilarious moment, Tucci's character seems to compare fashion designers with the likes of great artists such as Shakespeare or Wagner -- although he doesn't mention those particular names.] A big problem with the picture is that in the first half everyone snickers at Hathaway's un-chic fashion sense, but absolutely nobody notices how good-looking she is, which makes little sense. Since most of the characters are superficial and a bit dumb, this forgettable trifle does little to stimulate the mind or anything else.

Verdict: Instantly disposable. **.

LIONS FOR LAMBS

LIONS FOR LAMBS (2007). Director: Robert Redford. NOTE: On occasion Great Old Movies will review more recent films of interest.

Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) talks to an underachieving, disaffected but intelligent student Todd (Andrew Garfield) whom he thinks might muff an opportunity to amount to something. During their conversation Malley brings up two minority, less privileged former classmates of Todd's -- Ernest (Michael Pena) and Arian (Derek Luke) -- who volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces in Afghanistan because they wanted to take a stand and be part of something. Malley doesn't know that these two young men are part of a new military initiative that has begun in Afghanistan, something that is the brainchild of Republican Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise). As the professor and the student converse, so, too, do Irving and veteran TV journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep), who hopes to burrow through Irving's smugness and get some real meat out of him for her interview. She knows, however, that the network will just swallow and report whatever Irving tells them. These discussions are interspersed with scenes from Afghanistan, where Ernest and Arian are trapped by members of the Taliban.

Redford (filming a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan) takes on the media, the Republicans, the war on terrorism, social inequality, societal and personal indifference, the obsession with celebrities, ambitious-driven politicians, and so on in a 90 minutes that moves fairly quickly. It would be easy to dismiss Lions for Lambs as somewhat devoid of plot and action, as well as rather preachy and obvious -- all of which it is -- but it's also well-meaning, makes some good points, and is at least about something, unlike most of the films that are being made today. The scenes with the soldiers in Afghanistan are very moving, as well. Cruise is always at his best playing shallow media-savvy characters, so he's okay in this picture. Redford is effective enough as the professor, and Streep is simply excellent as Roth. Garfield, Pena and Luke are solid as the young men.

Verdict: Not for all tastes, but surprisingly effective. ***.