HEARTBURN (DVD) (WS ENHANCE 16X9/DOL DIG(ENG 5.1 SUR/ENG SUB) DVD

Heartburn
Though she always played coy about the fact in interviews, Nora Ephron's novel Heartburn is a thinly disguised "a clef" rehash of her marriage to Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein. Meryl Streep plays Rachel, an influential food critic who marries charismatic columnist Mark (Jack Nicholson) after a whirlwind courtship. Warned that Mark is constitutionally incapable of settling down with any one woman, Rachel gives up her own job to make certain that her marriage works. When Rachel announces that she's pregnant, Mark virtually jumps out of his skin with delight. But as the news sinks in, Mark chafes at the impending responsibilities of fatherhood, and the philandering begins-- as if it had ever really stopped! Our favorite scene: Rachel and her friends being robbed at her therapy group. That's Meryl Streep's real-life daughter playing Rachel's offspring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Meryl Streep as Rachel Jack Nicholson as Mark Jeff Daniels as Richard Maureen Stapleton as Vera Stockard Channing as Julie Richard Masur as Arthur Catherine O'Hara as Betty Steven Hill as Harry, Rachel's Father Milos Forman as Dmitri Natalie Stern as Annie Karen Akers as Thelma Rice

Crew John Kasarda - Art Director Gary Jones - Costume Designer Ann Roth - Costume Designer Mike Nichols - Director Sam O'Steen - Editor Carly Simon - Composer (Music Score) Lee Halls - Makeup J. Roy Helland - Makeup Tony Walton - Production Designer Néstor Almendros - Cinematographer Robert Greenhut - Producer Mike Nichols - Producer Susan Bode-Tyson - Set Designer Nora Ephron - Screenwriter Michael Dennison - Costumes Supervisor Nora Ephron - Book Author

Heartburn
This well-crafted but disappointing comedy-drama has talent to burn on both sides of the camera but is curiously uninvolving. The major reason for this lies in Nora Ephron's script, which never presents any believable reason for the two main characters to be interested in each other, much less married. This script also suffers from a diffuse, episodic structure that fritters away much of the story's potential for comedic or dramatic moments by lingering on everyday events that do nothing to reveal the characters or push the story forward. As a result, the actors have little to work with: The pairing of Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson seems like a match made in heaven but their sketchily drawn characters keep them from ever connecting in a meaningful way. A few of the support players generate sparks, most notably Catherine O'Hara as a gossipy queen-bee type, but none of them ever get enough screen time to make a lasting impression or enhance the threadbare narrative. Director Mike Nichols manages to create a handful of memorable scenes (the best is when the two leads trade songs about babies after discovering they're having one of their own) but can't triumph over the lackluster script. As a result, Heartburn is neither funny nor dramatic enough to satisfy most audiences and can only be recommended to devoted fans of Streep or Nicholson. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 TV's Dolby Digital: English 5.1 surround, English restored mono English subtitles MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 109 min Part of Series: Paramount Widescreen Collection   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Famous For Being Single [3:04] 2. First Date [:22] 3. Rachel's Reservations [4:44] 4. Wedding Vows [1:50] 5. Contractor Troubles [3:41] 6. Baby Songs [3:14] 7. Annie's Birth [1:31] 8. Life Goes On [4:14] 9. Missing Socks [2:16] 10. Washington Gossip [5:01] 11. Rachel Confronts Mark [2:24] 12. Back in New York [4:39] 13. Pregnant, Penniless and Alone [2:39] 14. Group Therapy Robbery [1:44] 15. Reconciliation [3:08] 16. Pretending to Be Happy [2:15] 17. Lies About Thelma [:39] 18. Another Baby [6:26] 19. At The Jeweler [:59] 20. Key Lime Pie [7:44]