Heartburn (1986)

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Nora Ephron (novel)
Nora Ephron (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 July 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Two Oscar Winning Stars Combine With An Oscar Winning Director [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

Rachel and Mark are both Washington journalists. They meet at a wedding and not long after they get married themselves...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Columnist | Pregnancy | Journalist | Pregnant

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Meryl Streep	...	Rachel Samstat
Jack Nicholson	...	Mark Forman
Jeff Daniels	...	Richard
Maureen Stapleton	...	Vera
Stockard Channing	...	Julie Siegel
Richard Masur	...	Arthur Siegel
Catherine O'Hara	...	Betty
Steven Hill	...	Harry Samstat
Milos Forman	...	Dmitri
Mamie Gummer	...	Annie Forman (as Natalie Stern)
Karen Akers	...	Thelma Rice
Aida Linares	...	Juanita
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Della, Harry's Maid
Ron McLarty	...	Det. Andrew O'Brien
Kenneth Welsh	...	Dr. Appel
Kevin Spacey	...	Subway Thief
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Eve
Joanna Gleason	...	Diana
R.S. Thomas	...	Therapy Group Member
Jack Gilpin	...	Ellis
Christian Clemenson	...	Sidney
John Wood	...	British Moderator
Sidney Armus	...	Leo
Yakov Smirnoff	...	Contractor Laszlo
Caroline Aaron	...	Judith
Lela Ivey	...	Mary Beth, Hairdresser
Tracey Jackson	...	Hairdresser's Friend
Libby Titus	...	Rachel's Sister
Angela Pietropinto	...	Hospital Receptionist
Cynthia O'Neal	...	Magazine Colleague
Susan Forristal	...	Magazine Colleague
Dana Ivey	...	Wedding Speaker
John Rothman	...	Jonathan Rice
Elijah Lindsay	...	Anesthetist
Jack Neam	...	Butcher
Kim Parks	...	Arthur & Julie's Daughter (as Kimi Parks)
Salem Ludwig	...	Judge
Patricia Falkenhain	...	Dinner Party Hostess
Margaret Thomson	...	Irritated Wedding Guest
Charles Denny	...	Dinner Party Guest (as Charles Denney)
Gregg Almquist	...	Dinner Party Guest
Garrison Lane	...	Dinner Party Guest
Ryan Hilliard	...	Dinner Party Guest
Dana Streep	...	Dinner Party Guest
Mary Streep	...	Dinner Party Guest
Cyrilla Dorn	...	Dinner Party Guest
May Pang	...	Dinner Party Guest
Michael Regan	...	Father of the Bride
Ari M. Roussimoff	...	Workman
Luther Rucker	...	Workman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Jones	...	Waiter in Opening Sequence (uncredited)
Natasha Lyonne	...	Rachel's Niece (uncredited)
Grant Reid	...	Man in Maternity Scene (uncredited)
Tony Shalhoub	...	Airplane passenger (uncredited)

Directed by
Mike Nichols

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nora Ephron		novel
Nora Ephron		screenplay

Produced by
Robert Greenhut	....	producer
Mike Nichols	....	producer
Joel Tuber	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Néstor Almendros

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen

Casting by
Juliet Taylor

Production Design by
Tony Walton

Art Direction by
John Kasarda

Set Decoration by
Susan Bode

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
Romaine Greene	....	hair stylist
Lee Halls	....	makeup artist
J. Roy Helland	....	hair stylist: Miss Streep
J. Roy Helland	....	makeup artist: Miss Streep

Production Management
Ezra Swerdlow	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sally Andrews	....	dga trainee
Timothy M. Bourne	....	second second assistant director
David Dreyfuss	....	second assistant director
Joel Tuber	....	first assistant director

Art Department
James Mazzola	....	property master
Arne Olsen	....	chief construction grip
Ron Petagna	....	construction coordinator
Richard A. Ventre	....	master scenic artist (as Richard Ventre)
Dave Weinman	....	chief set dresser
Frank Didio	....	head carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stan Bochner	....	supervising sound editor
Michael J. Cerone	....	sound re-recording mixer
Frank Graziadei	....	sound recordist
Mark Livolsi	....	assistant sound editor
Tony Martinez	....	assistant sound editor (as Tony Martínez)
Geraldine Peroni	....	assistant sound editor
James Sabat	....	production sound mixer
Louis Sabat	....	boom operator
Paul Trejo	....	sound editor
Dick Vorisek	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Richard Vorisek)
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jerry DeBlau	....	best boy
John W. DeBlau	....	gaffer (as John DeBlau)
Brian Hamill	....	still photographer
Chaim Kantor	....	second assistant camera
Dan Lerner	....	camera operator
Bruce MacCallum	....	assistant camera
Danny Neroda	....	video technician
Tom Prate	....	key grip

Casting Department
Ellen Lewis	....	casting associate
Todd M. Thaler	....	additional casting (as Todd Michael Thaler)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alba Censoplano	....	wardrobe supervisor: women
Michael Dennison	....	wardrobe supervisor: men
Gary Jones	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Richard Nord	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Kris Cole	....	assistant music editor
Russ Kunkel	....	music producer
Russ Kunkel	....	music recordist
George Massenburg	....	music producer
George Massenburg	....	music recordist
Patrick Mullins	....	music editor
Bill Payne	....	music producer
Bill Payne	....	music recordist

Transportation Department
Harold 'Whitey' McEvoy	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Richard Baratta	....	production assistant
Jerry Caron	....	assistant: Mr. Nichols
Kay Chapin	....	script supervisor
Richard Guay	....	assistant production auditor
Joseph Hartwick	....	production auditor
Barbara Heller	....	production assistant
Amy Herman	....	production secretary
Susan MacNair	....	assistant: Mr. Nichols
Helen Robin	....	production office coordinator
Reid Rosefelt	....	unit publicist
Gilbert S. Williams	....	production assistant
Grant Reid	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Scott Schaffer	....	craft service (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1986) (USA) (all media)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1986) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• United Pictures Finland (1986) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• TV3 (1991) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1998) (Finland) (TV) (TV1)
• Finnkino (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Paramount (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Nelonen (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Esselte Video (????) (Finland) (video)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Mandy Patinkin was originally cast as Mark Forman.

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.

Movie Connections:

References Carousel (1956)

Soundtrack:

Soliloquy

Uneven, but less manufactured than Ephron's subsequent films

Although somewhat artificial, the humor and "heartburn" of this Nora Ephron film seem more affecting and less manufactured than those in her more slick subsequent films, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle. Perhaps the autobiographical slant helped.

Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson play a couple based on Ephron and Carl Bernstein. They meet, marry, settle in Washington, and have children. Streep's wedding-day jitters, it turns out, were amply justified; she discovers an affair between her husband and a social-climbing hostess.

Streep is so luminous and so natural that one may not realize until the end of the film how completely insipid and devoid of any distinguishing qualities her character is. "Rachel" changes from a wan, nervous divorcee (before meeting Nicholson's character) to an obsessively devoted wife and mother who keeps babbling about how happy she is.

Nicholson is well-cast as the rakish but (initially) endearing husband. The supporting cast reflects the expert hand of Juliet Taylor, Woody Allen's longtime casting director, who peppered it with many familiar faces, including Allen favorites Joanna Gleason, Caroline Aaron, and Karen Akers. Maureen Stapleton is particularly droll as Streep's shrink. Nineties audiences will enjoy seeing Kevin Spacey as a neurasthenic mugger.

The comedy in the film is somewhat uneven, but often extremely engaging, as in a running parody of "Masterpiece Theatre." And compare the spontaneous bravado of Nicholson's lopsided rendition of "Soliloquy" from Carousel (the comic highlight) to the forced quirkiness of Meg Ryan's tone-deaf "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" in When Harry Met Sally...