Ironweed

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: February 12, 1988

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

56	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

EmpireWilliam Thomas

Good performances, but If you're looking for an uplifting tale of hope against despair, look elsewhere. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Despite its nearly two-and-a-half-hour running time, its superstar cast and its $23 million budget, Mr. Babenco's Ironweed is skeletal, a mere outline of Mr. Kennedy's far more resonant book. Read full review

Sheila Benson

Even illuminated by the unsparing performances of Jack Nicholson as Francis and Meryl Streep as Helen, his companion of nine years and another soul stumbling away from grace, the film becomes becalmed and confusing; it lacks the novel's great unwavering trajectory. [18 Dec 1987, p.1]

Hal Hinson

Ironweed, the new film by Hector Babenco starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, comes about as close to being an unmitigated waste of talent as any movie in recent memory. Read full review

Pauline Kael

The director, Hector Babenco, treats William Kennedy's Albany novel, set in 1938, as a joyless classic; the movie has no momentum--the running time (144 minutes) is like a death sentence.

Hal Lipper

Ironweed doesn't work despite the stellar performances of Nicholson as former baseball pro Francis Phelan and Meryl Streep as his pal, Helen Archer, the former musician whose booze-ravaged voice still bears the air of cultivation. [12 Feb 1988, p.5]