When I vacation, I tend to engage in most of my activity during the day. After a day of riding the train to Glasgow and walking through that city, along with Edinburgh, I was ready to spend the evening sitting in bed and resting my feet. And Netflix UK has some different offerings than the US-based version. One was The Untouchables, which offers an interesting idea about how single men can risk their lives to catch criminals, while married men stay at home with their families (that could be another history). But this one’s about Heartburn, which came across my radar as a flick that’s not necessarily pro-single, but definitely anti-marriage. It’s not a good movie, but if you’re feeling really salty about couplemania, there are probably worse ways to kill an evening. Note: it’s based on a true story about the marriage of writer/director Nora Ephron and famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.
The movie starts Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, two of the best actors of our time, as Rachel and Mark. They meet at a mutual friend’s wedding. When she asks another friend if Mark’s single, said friend replies, “He’s known for it.” The “cool bachelor” stereotype persists, much like his character in Something’s Gotta Give.
On their first date, they both say they’re never marrying again. The next scene cuts to their wedding, where we’re treated to an elongated sequence of Streep hemming and hawing in a room about going through with the ceremony. At one point, she asks someone, “How long have you and Harvey been married?”
“Twelve years,” is the reply.
“It’s a wonderful marriage, isn’t it?”
“It’s okay.”
“How long have you and Harvey been married? “Twelve years.” “It’s a wonderful marriage, isn’t it?” “It’s okay.”
After the wedding, we see Mark going ballistic over a contractor’s failure to provide an entryway from the kitchen to the rest of the house. To be fair, that might aggravate me too as a homeowner, but that causes a fight with Rachel. That is human, but does one really want to have to work through that kind of displaced anger with another? I sure wouldn’t.
At one point, the two are vacationing with another couple in West Virginia, and they toast. “To marriage,” Mark says halfheartedly. “To friendship,” the friend follows, with a bit more enthusiasm. And Mark’s facial expression indicate his boredom with the whole situation. He’s a stereotypical bachelor, like in “The Wanderer” (“I’m the kind of guy who will never settle down”). One wonders if he’s an unaware single at heart.
To be fair, Rachel learns of his infidelity, which is not condonable. By this point, she’s pregnant with their second child, which makes it even worse. She leaves him to go to New York, but laments that in the high society of Washington, DC, “If your marriage falls apart, you might as well have leprosy.” In the 1980s, that probably was a sad reality and may still be in some circles. A divorce can have you losing the friends you made while married.
By the end, Rachel has found her strength. Mark begs her to take him back, which she does. He cheats again. She finds out. A dinner party ends with her throwing a key lime pie in his face in front of everyone. She leaves for New York with her daughter. End credits roll.
The story is told in a simplistic fashion. Rachel’s character is portrayed in a whiny manner, and Mark is a bit of a one-dimensional bastard. The only thing I really liked is the musical refrain of Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again,” which is so catchy I played it on repeat the next morning as I walked to my Scottish breakfast.
Side note: I loved how the filmmakers portray Georgetown as a quiet neighborhood. When the couple first moves in, their car is parked right in front of their townhouse, and the street is empty. In real life, drivers would be playing Tetris to avoid hitting them, even in 1986, since Metro wasn’t quite as built up.
And the fact that there’s no stop in Georgetown is shameful. That’s how “not into” the film I was; I was thinking about this. But I suppose next time I’m feeling salty about our couplecentric society, I can keep this on in the background as I fold laundry.