Ironweed (film)

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Ironweed
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Hector Babenco
Produced by	Keith Barish Marcia Nasatir
Written by	William Kennedy
Starring	Jack Nicholson Meryl Streep Carroll Baker Tom Waits
Music by	John Morris
Cinematography	Lauro Escorel
Editing by	Anne Goursaud
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	December 18, 1987
Running time	143 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Ironweed is a 1987 film directed by Argentine-born Brazilian Hector Babenco.^[1]

The picture is based on the novel by William Kennedy and tells the story of an alcoholic, wandering man and woman during America's Great Depression. Kennedy also wrote the screenplay.

It stars Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Tom Waits and Nathan Lane.

Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany, New York, including Jay Street at Lark Street and the Miss Albany Diner on North Pearl Street.

1 Plot
2 Cast and ratings
3 Critical reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links

[edit] Plot

The film is set in the later years of the Depression.

Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson) is a washed-up baseball player who deserted his family back in the 1920s when he accidentally dropped his son while drunk and killed him. Since then, Phelan has been a shabby barfly, living from drink to drink.

Wandering into Albany, New York, Phelan seeks out his girlfriend and drinking companion Helen Archer (Meryl Streep). The two meet up in a mission managed by Reverend Chester (James Gammon), and later in Oscar Reo's (Fred Gwynne) gin mill. Over the next few days, Phelan takes a few minor jobs to support his habit, while he thinks about the past and present.

A chance for a reconciliation with his wife Annie Phelan (Carroll Baker) is abandoned when a group of local reformers, who have baseball bats, take it upon themselves to drive the homeless out of Albany.