# Heartburn (film)
**Heartburn** is a 1986 American comedy-drama directed by [Mike Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-nichols), written by [Nora Ephron](https://www.edgepedia.org/nora-ephron) from her best-selling autobiographical novel, and starring [Meryl Streep](https://www.edgepedia.org/meryl-streep) as food writer Rachel Samstat and Jack Nicholson as Washington columnist Mark Forman, whose marriage collapses under his repeated infidelity. Paramount Pictures released it on July 25, 1986.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 25, 1986 (Los Angeles and New York openings), Paramount Pictures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) |
| Director / writer | Mike Nichols; screenplay by Nora Ephron, based on her novel[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) |
| Stars | Meryl Streep (Rachel Samstat), Jack Nicholson (Mark Forman), with Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing, and Milos Forman[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/heartburn) |
| Running time / rating | 108 minutes; MPAA rating R[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) |
| Box office | $5,783,079 opening weekend; $25,314,189 domestic gross[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0091188/) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 49 from 12 reviews; 48% Tomatometer and 46% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/heartburn/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartburn) |
| Source novel | Ephron's *Heartburn*, a thinly disguised account of her marriage to Carl Bernstein, spent 27 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Rachel Samstat, a New York food writer, meets Mark Forman, a Washington newspaper columnist, at a friend's wedding, and the two marry despite her reservations about marriage. Rachel gives up her job and relocates; the couple struggles through home renovations and parenthood, and while she is pregnant with their second child she discovers that Mark is having an affair with another woman.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartburn) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/heartburn/) In the film's best-known scene, Rachel delivers a wry speech about the end of love at a dinner party, throws a key lime pie in Mark's face, asks for the car keys, and leaves without looking back.[7](https://time.com/6262930/heartburn-nora-ephron-best-film/)
## Origin in Ephron's novel
Mike Nichols acquired the film rights to Ephron's novel, a thinly disguised account of her marriage to and divorce from the investigative reporter [Carl Bernstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/carl-bernstein), according to a Hollywood Reporter item of April 5, 1983. The book had spent twenty-seven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, and after Nichols bought the rights Pocket Books paid Ephron $341,000 for paperback reprint rights.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN)
The real-life subject objected. Bernstein said the book was "not an accurate portrayal of the breakup of our marriage" and attempted to have production halted; under the couple's divorce settlement, reported by *Screen International* in July 1985, he received the right to read and approve the screenplay and any rewrites, and to view a first cut of the film and submit complaints.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) The Washington Post's review argued that this litigious oversight tamed the material: the "rat" Ephron had roasted in the book became "a likable cad," and the acidic roman à clef (novel disguising real people under fictional names) became "a tame domestic drama."[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/07/25/heartburn-hamstrung/977bd4a8-90d5-4a85-8a50-9cb25ef5cb3d/)
## Casting and production
The role of Mark changed hands repeatedly before Nicholson was cast. A Hollywood Reporter item of April 17, 1984 announced [Kevin Kline](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-kline) for the part; [Mandy Patinkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/mandy-patinkin) was announced as the lead on June 20, 1985, before production began on July 19, 1985.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) Earlier, Nichols had reportedly sought [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman), who had played a Bernstein-based character in *All the President's Men* (1976).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN)
Production ran from July 19 to October 10, 1985 in New York City and Washington, D.C. Nestor Almendros was the cinematographer, Sam O'Steen the editor, [Tony Walton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-walton) the production designer, and [Carly Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/carly-simon) wrote the music.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) The supporting cast includes [Jeff Daniels](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-daniels), Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing, Richard Masur, Catherine O'Hara, and Steven Hill; the director Milos Forman appears as Dmitri, marking his screen debut as an actor.[2](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/heartburn) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN)
## Reception and box office
Heartburn opened on 843 screens and grossed $5.8 million on its opening weekend, a $6,995 per-screen average; its domestic total was $25,314,189.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0091188/)
Critical response was largely mixed. The film holds a Metascore of 49 based on 12 reviews, with nine rated mixed, two positive, and one negative.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/heartburn/) On Rotten Tomatoes it scores 48% from 25 critics, with a critics consensus that its "aimless plot inspires mild indigestion instead of romantic ardor," and 46% from audiences.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartburn) Paul Attanasio of the Washington Post called it "a masterpiece, a collaboration of mature artists at the peak of their craft," while Roger Ebert in the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) called it "a bitter, sour movie about two people who are only marginally interesting" and suggested Ephron should have based her story on somebody else's marriage.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/heartburn/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heartburn-1986) [Gene Siskel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-siskel) named it the most disappointing film of the year considering its pedigree.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartburn)
## Legacy
A 2023 Time retrospective argued the film had been unfairly panned, calling it "the black sheep of the Ephron canon" and crediting its wry, unreconciled depiction of a failing marriage as the most personal work of a writer better known for the romantic comedies *When Harry Met Sally...*, *Sleepless in Seattle*, and *You've Got Mail*.[7](https://time.com/6262930/heartburn-nora-ephron-best-film/) The film's events, drawn from Ephron's marriage, also complicated Bernstein's relationship with their son, the filmmaker Jacob Bernstein, whose documentary *Everything Is Copy* (2015) revisits his mother's habit of turning her life into material.[9](https://time.com/4262492/nora-ephrons-son-moms-say-the-most-embarrassing-things/)
## References
1. [Heartburn (1986), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57348-HEARTBURN)
2. [Heartburn, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/heartburn)
3. [Heartburn (1986), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0091188/)
4. [Heartburn, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/heartburn/)
5. [Heartburn, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heartburn)
6. [Rita Kempley, "'Heartburn': Hamstrung," The Washington Post, July 25, 1986](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/07/25/heartburn-hamstrung/977bd4a8-90d5-4a85-8a50-9cb25ef5cb3d/)
7. ["In Defense of Nora Ephron's Unfairly Panned Heartburn Movie," Time, March 15, 2023](https://time.com/6262930/heartburn-nora-ephron-best-film/)
8. [Roger Ebert, "Heartburn," Chicago Sun-Times, 1986](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heartburn-1986)
9. ["Nora Ephron's Son Pays Tribute in Everything Is Copy," Time, March 17, 2016](https://time.com/4262492/nora-ephrons-son-moms-say-the-most-embarrassing-things/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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