Stanley & Iris (1990)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writers (WGA):

Pat Barker (novel)
Harriet Frank Jr. (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Some people need love spelled out for them.

Plot:

An illiterate cook (Robert De Niro) at a company cafeteria tries for the attention of a newly widowed woman (Jane Fonda)...

Plot Keywords:

Face Slap | Punctuation In Title | Premarital Sex | Pregnancy | Human Relationship

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Iris Estelle King
Robert De Niro	...	Stanley Everett Cox
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Sharon
Martha Plimpton	...	Kelly King
Harley Cross	...	Richard King
Jamey Sheridan	...	Joe Fuller
Feodor Chaliapin Jr.	...	Leonides Cox (as Feodor Chaliapin)
Zohra Lampert	...	Elaine
Loretta Devine	...	Bertha
Julie Garfield	...	Belinda
Karen Ludwig	...	Melissa
Kathy Kinney	...	Bernice
Laurel Lyle	...	Muriel
Mary Testa	...	Joanne
Katherine Cortez	...	Jan

Also Known As:

Letters (USA) (working title)
Union Street (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DuArt)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | France:U | South Korea:15 | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Lantana

Trivia:

New rating in Finland: -11 (2001)/ Visa # 96718.

Goofs:

Continuity: The final shot of that sequence supposedly takes place at Post and Washington Streets, but a street sign partly out of focus in the background is clearly different from either of those.

Quotes:

Stanley Everett Cox: Three people in bed is one too many for me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Biography Special: The Fondas (2004) (TV)

the real deal

This is a wonderful movie, with perfect performances by the very best actors. Anyone who doesn't appreciate this little masterpiece has probably spent too much time in front of the TV. The writing is superb, and the direction flawless. From the opening 360 degree pan, which ends by a close-up of the bakery (which is, in fact, the center of the drama), to the outstanding last line of the film (which is, in fact, the theme of the movie), the storytelling is absolutely first-rate. The acting is a study in naturalistic performance style. Jane Fonda is, as always, the best of the best, but Stanley's father steals the show. De Niro, as Stanley, gives an understated and totally endearing portrayal of a resourceful and intelligent "illiterate." This film is the opposite of the "blockbuster" -- finely crafted, intimate, and uncompromising.