Heartburn (1986) - Ephron's first-rate script attains greatness with Streep, Nicholson and Nichols

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Two absolute A-list stars get pushed to sell Mike Nichols' Heartburn on this simple poster

Two mature career people, who have both already been married once, risk fate, get married and have children.

 

Heartburn is written by Nora Ephron (Silkwood (1983)), based on her own autobiographical, same-titled 1983 novel, and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)).

There were few problems in Heartburn in my experience; the two protagonists are, to begin with, a bit much (self-involved, more accurately.) There's also an indulgent 'baby' singing scene. But Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia (2009)) and Jack Nicholson (The Missouri Breaks (1976)) are stars of a special breed, who can attract our attention in spite of this, and simply appreciate this time with them together on screen immensely.

Heartburn is also a romance dramedy film that gets better and better, and in its ending left me spellbound by Ephron's strong female-empowerment script. Nichols directs it beautifully, and Streep and Nicholson are eminent. Milos Forman (Labyrinth (1991)) and a debuting Kevin Spacey (The Life of David Gale (2003)) are also good. And I love the sympathetic portrait of the maid.

 

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 
Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential     
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire  

The Graduate (1967) - Submerge yourself in Nichols' terrific classic 

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 52.6 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.50 times its cost)

[Heartburn premiered 22 July (New York) and runs 109 minutes. Ephron's novel and script is based on her second marriage, to Carl Benstein (and his affair with Margaret Jay.) Nicholson was paid 4 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from July - October 1985 in New York and Virginia. The film opened #2, behind Aliens, to a 5.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 25.3 mil. $ (48.1 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Nichols returned with Biloxi Blues (1988). Streep returned in 2 video short voice performances prior to her theatrical return in Ironweed (1987); Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick (1987). Heartburn is rotten at 43 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heartburn?

In the Mood for Love/花樣年華/faa1joeng6 nin4waa4/huāyàng niánhuá (2000) - Kar-Wai's delectable home run

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The film's photogenic couple are lounged across this deep red colored poster for Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love

A man and a woman, both unhappily married to spouses who are abroad, work together at the same office and fall in love with each other but withstand the temptation.

In the Mood for Love is written and directed by Chinese master filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai (As Tears Go By/Wong Gok ka moon (1988)), whose 7th feature it is. The original Chinese title, which is the title of a pop song used in the film, translates to 'the age of blossoms'.
It is a sublime film about desire and unresolved love. It is erotic, compelling and beautiful.
The tone and imagery, (cinematography by Christopher Doyle (Beijing, New York (2015)), Pung-Leung Kwan (Hold You Tight/Yue kuai le, yue duo luo (1998)) and Ping Bin Lee (The Queens/Wo shi nv wang (2015))), are second to none.

Related posts:

Wong Kar-Wai: The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

My Blueberry Nights (2007) - A slice too cute
2046 (2004) - Kar-Wai's visually resplendent, empty hull of a movie 
Chungking Express/重慶森林 (1994) - Kar-Wai's urban love drama is a visual treat

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Reportedly 12.8 mil. $
= Uncertain
[In the Mood for Love premiered 20 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting reportedly took (outrageously long) 15 months in Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China. Cinematographer Doyle had to exit production, as it went over-schedule. The film opened #41 to a 113k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #27 and in 74 theaters (different weeks), grossing 2.7 mil. $ (21.1 % of the total gross). The film made 8.6 mil. HK$ in Hong Kong, approximately 1.1 mil. $ (8.6 %). The specifics as to the other major markets that made up the 12.8 mil. $ listed gross are not revealed online. The film was nominated for a BAFTA, won 2 awards at Cannes, a César award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award and won a European Film award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches harder than this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #239 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Before Sunset (2004) and Paris, Texas (1984). Kar-Wai returned with 6 shorts before his theatrical return with 2046 (2004). Tony Leung (Timeless Romance/Chiu si hung yiu oi (1998)) returned in Healing Hearts/Hap gwat yan sam (2000); Maggie Cheung (Twin Dragons/Seong lung wui (1992)) in Le Bel Hiver (2000, short) and theatrically in Hero/Ying xiong (2002). In the Mood for Love is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.84/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Mood for Love?

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit

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+ Best London Movie of the Year

The still of what appears a moment of genuine romantic feeling is contrasted eerily with the ominous tagline in the bottom of this poster for Woody Allen's Match Point; 'There are no little secrets.'

An ex-tennis pro falls for an alluring woman who is the girlfriend of his friend, who is soon to be his brother-in-law, as he is on the cusp of entering a wealthy English family.

Match Point is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (Sleeper (1973)), whose 35th feature it is. I can't but feel it as a basically rather trite concept adult picture with the core theme being, 'luck'. Still Match Point is a captivating and good film, which impresses with a well-integrated opera element, a strong ending and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis (2005, miniseries)) giving an equally strong protagonist performance. 
This is a fine sidestep for Allen, both in terms of genre (drama-thriller) and location, (it is his first film shot abroad), and the ease with which he succeeds is admirable, - but I as an Allen fan miss some of his personality (not least his humor) in the film.

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 85.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Match Point premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, France) and runs 124 minutes. When Allen could not find funding for the film in New York, where he had set it in The Hamptons, he found it in the UK with the BBC and rewrote to accommodate the new location. Kate Winslet was cast but dropped out, and her character had to be rewritten as an American, for Scarlett Johansson (Rough Night (2017)). Shooting took place in the UK, including London, from June - August 2004. The film opened #21 to a 398k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 509 theaters (different weeks), grossing 23.1 mil. $ (27.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 10.7 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 10.2 mil. $ (12 %). The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, losing to Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco for Crash. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a César award, won a David di Donatello award, a Goya award, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Allen has said of the film: "arguably may be the best film that I've made. This is strictly accidental, it just happened to come out right. You know, I try to make them all good, but some come out and some don't. With this one everything seemed to come out right. The actors fell in, the photography fell in and the story clicked. I caught a lot of breaks!" He returned with Scoop (2006), also starring Johansson. Meyers returned in Mission: Impossible III (2006); Johansson in The Island (2005). Match Point is certified fresh at 76 % with a 7.15/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Match Point?

Queen of Hearts/Dronningen (2019) - Dyrholm explores complex culpability in el-Toukhy's dynamite drama

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+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Sex Drama of the Year

A fairly hideously designed poster for May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts, which seems to indicate an orgy between generations

A successful mother and wife career woman lets her life become untethered, when her husband's late-teenage son from a former marriage moves in with them, and she initiates a sexual relationship with him.

Queen of Hearts is written by Maren Louise Käehne (Shelley (2016)) and great Danish co-writer/director May el-Toukhy (Long Story Short/Lang Historie Kort (2015)). It is a layered and complex drama about issues of marriage, sexuality, culpability, manipulation and responsibility.
Trine Dyrholm (A Royal Affair/En Kongelig Affære (2016)) gives what is arguably her best performance to date as the unwound protagonist, who gets her way around her husband with eerie and amazing cunning, while letting herself roam free from morality behind the curtains.
What makes the adulterous relation in Queen of Hearts especially provocative and wrong in my eyes is not so much the young man's age, (he looks to be at least 17 or 18), but more so the fact that he is her step-son, - and mostly so the fact that they carry on their sinful relation in and around the family's home, which seems the ultimate disregard for everyone else. The overstepping of course mostly shames Dyrholm's character, who is in full command of her wits, is fully mature and aware of her conduct. But I personally cannot completely exonerate her Swedish husband (well-played by Magnus Krepper (Ditte & Louise (2015-16)), whose wrongdoing is that he leads a tame marriage to a partner who is obviously neglected to some degree, in attention, sexually especially, - while he moves in his attractive son to their home and leaves the two of them alone. Gustav Lindh (All Inclusive (2017)) who was around 23 at the time of shooting, is very good as the troubled son, SPOILER who becomes mixed-up from the experience.
SPOILER The development is that of a downwards spiral: The great script and expert handling makes every step wholly authentic and believably natural; but things almost couldn't go any worse for our protagonist or the other main characters.
The film has elegant and evocative photography (by Jasper Spanning (The Guilty/Den Skyldige (2018))), which also helps to set the thematic scene through shots of gnarly, naked, wiry tree branches; nature has convoluted chaos that can sometimes resemble the inner workings of humans, these fine images seem to relate. The production is also graced with good production values and wardrobe decisions; especially Dyrholm's character's costumes are incredibly elegant, and she carries them with the powerful aplomb of an everyday queen. (Costumes by Rebecca Richmond (Heartless (2014, TV-series), costumer)).
Queen of Hearts is a film for grown-ups; a heady, lingering drama to be sure. My only negative note goes to its choice concerning the sexuality it portrays: El-Toukhy has especially one sexually explicit scene, which naturally wouldn't be done with any underage actor. The sex is sure to stir up conflicting feelings of arousal and nausea for different audiences. - But at the same time the narrative keeps a point alive about the young man being a boy and "just a child", as the protagonist's sister puts it, - which is obviously false. This point would have been stronger and relevant in the film, if casting had gone with a younger male actor, - and we could have skipped the explicit sex in that case.

Related post:

May el-Toukhy: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2019 in films - according to Film Excess
Long Story Short/Lang Historie Kort (2015) - Charming actors elevate generational, party-centered romcom

El Toukhy and Dyrholm give an interview about the film at Sundance in this video

Cost: Reportedly 19.5 mil. DKK, equalling approximately 2.91 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 3.2 mil. $ and counting
= Currently a huge flop (has returned 1.09 times its cost)
[Queen of Hearts premiered 20 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place in the Copenhagen area. The film won an audience award at Sundance. It has sold an impressive 318k admissions in Denmark, but as it is part of Cinema Club Denmark, a large portion of the admissions are sold at half prize. A realistic outcome is therefore a 21.8 mil. DKK gross/3.25 mil. $. Listed is also a gross from Hungary, Lithuania and Russia of 35k $. - This would put the gross currently at 3.2 mil. $ and counting. The film is set to release in Poland (7 June), Belgium (19 June), Netherlands (20 June) and the UK (6 September) and could hopefully still turn a profit. El-Toukhy has not announced her next film yet. Dyrholm returned in Brecht (2019). 704 IMDb users have given Queen of Hearts an 8/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Queen of Hearts?

Fatal Attraction (1987) - Stepping out has dire consequences in Lyne's spectacular blockbuster

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The iconic poster for Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction, which effectively combines the erotic with the fatal

A successful New York lawyer, who is bored in his marriage, steps out of it to enjoy another woman from his office. Unfortunately, she turns out to have a screw loose!

Fatal Attraction is written by James Dearden (Rogue Trader (1999)), with script doctoring by Nicholas Meyer (Time after Time (1979)), and directed by great English filmmaker Adrian Lyne (Foxes (1980)).
Michael Douglas (The In-Laws (2003)) somehow manages to get his lead, who appears an unscrupulous prick for large parts of the film, to become deeply sympathetic in spite of this, which requires a great, rare actor. He is helped in the task by Glenn Close (The Safety of Objects (2001)), who is spectacularly psychotic as Alex, the character who became every (straight) cheating man's worst nightmare with Fatal Attraction. She is outstanding. Also good is Anne Archer (Short Cuts (1993)) as the poor, wronged housewife.
Lyne stages the erotic thriller carefully and shows an admirable knack for suspense and visually oppressive atmosphere. Fatal Attraction is a tremendous, - and implicitly totally conservative, (which was fought over by, among others, Close and the studio), major hit.

Watch a clip from the film here

 
Cost: 14 mil. $
Box office: 320.1 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 22.86 times its cost)
[Fatal Attraction premiered 16 September (New York) and runs 119 minutes. It is based on Dearden's 50 minute film Diversion (1980). Close consulted 3 psychologists to get insight into her character's incestuous background and resulting borderline personality disorder. Shooting took place in New York from September - October 1986 with reshoots in July 1987. The original ending has Alex slashing her own throat, making her suicide appear a murder by Douglas' character: Close fought against the more vengeful ending eventually in the film and successfully attained the self-mutilation aspect in it to underscore Alex's self-destructive tendencies. The film opened #1 to a 7.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it maintained its #1 status for the following 7 weeks, before spending the next 5 weeks still in the top 5 (#2-#4-#4-#3-#5), ending up with a gigantic 156.6 mil. $ gross (48.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 20.7 mil. $ (6.5 %) and Germany with 20.5 mil. $ (6.4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to two notches harder than this one. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress to Cher in Moonstruck, Supporting Actress (Archer) to Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck, Director to Bernardo Bertolucci for The Last Emperor, Editing also to The Last Emperor, which also took Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay (Mark Peploe, Bertolucci). The film was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, won 1/3 BAFTA noms, was nominated for 2 David di Donatello awards, a Grammy, won a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Lyne returned with Jacob's Ladder (1990). Douglas returned in Wall Street (1987), Close in a voice performance in Gandahar (1988), in Stones for Baharra (1988, TV movie) and theatrically in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Dearden adapted the film into a stage play in London in 2014. Fatal Attraction is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.74/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fatal Attraction?

The Unfaithful Wife/La Femme Infidèle (1969) - Chabrol's reproving film of marital infidelity

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The yellow of cowardice and mendacity and the purple of sensuality and erotica mix on this indicative poster for Claude Chabrol's The Unfaithful Wife

A devoted husband gets a suspicion that his wife may be cheating on him. SPOILER The investigation of a private detective confirms his suspicion, and as he seeks out the lover, his withheld anger breaks out and results in murder.

The Unfaithful Wife is written and directed by French master filmmaker Claude Chabrol (The Cry of the Owl/Le Cri du Hibou (1987)), with Sauro Scavolini (American Risciò (1989) supplying some dialog.
Doom lures in this elegant drama thriller, which nevertheless drags by today's standards and also lacks any surprises in its plot. 
The Unfaithful Wife can be taken to attest that infidelity is selfish and can have side effects that can destroy the lives of those involved. Good acting distinguishes this fine if somewhat minor Chabrol film.

Related posts:

Claude Chabrol: Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Le Boucher (1970) - Small town thriller masterpiece from Claude Chabrol

Watch a scene from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[The Unfaithful Wife was released 22 January (France) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting took place in France, including Paris, from July - August 1968. The film attracted 682k admissions in its production country France. Its cost and global performance is unknown, although it is likely to have been a hit. It won a National Board of Review award. Chabrol returned with This Man Must Die/Que la Bête Meure (1969). Stéphane Audran (Betty (1992)) returned in Chabrol's Le Boucher (1970), Michel Bouquet (La Joie de Vivre (1993)) in Mississippi Mermaid/La Sirène du Mississipi (1969), Michel Duchaussoy (The Other Side of the Wind (2018)) in Bye Bye, Barbara (1969). The film was remade as Unfaithful (2002), and has also been remade in the Philippines and 3 times in India. 3,446 IMDb users have given The Unfaithful Wife a 7.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Unfaithful Wife?

The Burning Plain (2008) - Powerful actresses elevate Arriaga's flawed debut

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Three generations of graceful women stars collide on this drama-indicating poster for Guillermo Arriaga's The Burning Plain

A young woman learns that her mother is cheating on her new husband. A middle-aged woman head-waitress has sex with random men and is about to meet a consequence of her past ...

The Burning Plain is the debut for writer-director Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams (2003), writer). 
In the first story, set in New Mexico, Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone (2010)) is good as the distraught daughter, and Kim Basinger (The Informers (2008)) is excellent as the wife and mother, who has re-experienced joy and intimacy with warm Joaquim de Almeida (Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)). And Charlize Theron (Dark Places (2015)) is fascinating in the other story, which takes place up North, in Oregon.
Regrettably, it takes an awful long time before the connection between the two story planes became apparent to me, and then there's the issue of the film's tone, which is permanently set far beneath the floor-boards. unflinchingly dour. The Burning Plain is simply too plain.
SPOILER Theron is plagued at all times, and when her abandoned daughter enters the story, their interaction just isn't very natural, and the ending, in which it is indicated that Theron will now take part in the girl's life, therefore doesn't really settle convincingly.
Arriaga's only feature to date is an advanced bowl of tristesse.

Related posts:
 
Guillermo Arriaga: Babel (2006) or, Everyone's Connected (writer)
21 Grams (2003) or, Hardcore Life (writer) 
Amores Perros (2000) or, People - Bad/Dogs - Good (writer)

Theron gives an interview about her work on the film here. The video has Spanish subtitles

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[The Burning Plain premiered 29 August (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place in New Mexico, Oregon, including Portland, and in Texas from November - December 2007. The film opened #46 to a small 58k $ first weekend in 21 theaters in North America, where it never conquered better numbers and only grossed 200k $ (3.6 % of the total gross). The 3 biggest markets were Italy with 1.8 mil. $ (32.1 %), Spain with 1 mil. $ (17.9 %) and France with 870k $ (15.5 %). The film won Lawrence an award in Venice. Arriaga has retreated from features since The Burning Plain and has instead worked on several short films, both as writer and director. Theron returned in The Road (2009); Basinger in While She Was Out (2008) and Lawrence in The Bill Engvall Show (2007-09) and theatrically in Winter's Bone (2010), her breakthrough. The Burning Plain is rotten at 36 % with a 4.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Burning Plain?