Ironweed takes places in Albany, NY in 1938. Neither Francis nor Helen is crazy, although only he is fit to work the occasional odd job that will pay for a hot meal and a round of drinks at the bar. He is implied to have been drunk at the time, but Francis claims he was just tired and does not understand why no one will believe in his story. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing Ironweed near you. The film received mixed reviews. Ironweed seeds and cuttings do bestw in a soil that has a pH balance of 6/1 to 7/5 is highly. Francis manages to be nicer to people than they are to him. Tall Ironweed typically grows to reach heights of 7 to 12 feet tall. There isn't much more to the film's Helen than this, and indeed the character may go no deeper, but she's a marvel all the same. ENTER CITY, STATE OR ZIP CODE GO. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 24 critics. The skillful use of … Miss Streep uses the role of Helen as an opportunity to deliver a stunning impersonation of a darty-eyed, fast-talking woman of the streets, an angry, obdurate woman with great memories and no future. Streep virtually is unrecognizable as his longtime lover and helpmate, Helen Archer. Maybe it's just time to reconcile with old ghosts and get straight with himself. This plant self-sows both frequently and with great ease. On a bright late summer day, the purple flowers of ironweed glow. He once was a baseball player who traveled on the professional circuit. Members of the genus have lance-shaped, toothed leaves Major portio… [3], Streep received raves from most critics; Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that "Meryl Streep, as ever, is uncanny. Fandango FANALERT® Sign up for a FANALERT® to find out when tickets are available in your area. The common seed germination time is approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Self-seeding can be mitigated by removing some of the flower heads before they go to seed. Neither livestock nor typical garden pests tend to munch on ironweed. The sequence in which Helen entertains the real and imagined patrons of a bar room with a rendition of 'He's Me Pal' is a standout. Ironweed showcases two acting titans at the top of their form. The story concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the years following the Great Depression. When Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep were cast as two street bums in Ironweed, the question of their stardom arose. Ironweed definition, any of certain North American composite plants of the genus Vernonia, having tubular, chiefly purple or red disk flowers. Ironwood (disambiguation) Ironweed or iron weed may refer to: . An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his home town of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades. These are misfits who just can't cope with the demands of other people or the setbacks of life. Also sign me up for FanMail to get updates on all things movies: tickets, special offers, screenings + more. Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa gets response from ‘celebrity crush’ Shania Twain, Twin baby girls found at scene of fatal shooting in Pompano Beach, Hospitals filling up, encountering a new kind of coronavirus patient. Ironweeds can take their place in sunny moist beds and borders, rain gardens, and beside ponds and streams. Tension is sustained by the reconciliation that you sense is coming from the early scenes. 40. Francis is a washed-up and retired baseball player who deserted his family back in the 1910s, when he accidentally dropped his infant son to the ground, causing the child's death. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by William Kennedy, who also wrote the screenplay. The skillful use of vignettes that contrast the rotten present with the rosy past suggest how far Francis and Helen have fallen. It is a triumphant performance. Movie poster for Ironweed in The Paramount Vault Set in 1938, the film is based on the novel by William Kennedy (who also wrote the screenplay) and features Jack Nicholson, a homeless drifter, who returns to his home town and meets up with an ex-radio singer, played by Meryl Streep, who is ill and homeless. They are magnets for butterflies. The New York Times (December, 1987) "Ironweed (1987) Film: 'Ironweed,' From Hector Babenco", "16th Moscow International Film Festival (1989)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ironweed_(film)&oldid=1006480359, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 February 2021, at 02:56. Read full review. See more. He lived a troubled life full of violence, but he longed for the day to understand himself and change his life. At a certain point, Ironweed belongs to Francis, and Nicholson runs with it, underplaying his time at home in scenes of great poignancy. For an actor who can get a laugh with an arched eyebrow, Nicholson doesn't raid his arsenal of mannerisms for the serious Ironweed. Ironweed is the remarkable story of Francis Phelan, once a talented major league baseball player, husband, and father of three, who has fallen so far from grace that his home for the past twenty-two years has been the street. Meanwhile, a group of local vigilantes takes it upon themselves to drive the homeless out of Albany by violent means. [2] At the time of its release, it garnered enthusiasm because of the presence of stars Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. When other options are exhausted, Francis and Helen join the bum contingent at the church mission for dinner, but avoid giving their lives to the Lord when the preacher calls for sinners. Albany. Wandering into his hometown of Albany on Halloween in 1938, Phelan seeks out his lover and drinking companion, Helen Archer (Meryl Streep). It's an irony, since life hasn't been fair to him. It grows though most of the state—zones 8b to 10b—and can be planted in areas with full sun to partial shade. Verified Purchase William Kennedy won The Pulitzer Prize for "Ironweed" then adapted this screenplay. In limited space, cut the stems by half in early summer to control height. 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. 10. Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany. If anything, Ironweed is about the death of dreams, but particularly of the American Dream, which in the film’s universe, is non-existent. If you ride with the emotional undertow of Ironweed, there's no way you'll ever look at street people in quite the same way". Subscribe Now Francis Phelan, a baseball player during the 1900’s, a part-time gravedigger, and a longtime vagrant as the story begins. Argentinean director Hector Babenco said of this picture: "It is a movie that tries to embrace the territories of love, and it's also about the courage and beauty of people we don't usually think of as having deep and complex emotions." This darkness, the … Fandango FANALERT® Sign up for a FANALERT® to find out when tickets are available in your area. There's no phony sentiment here. It's a risky, non-commercial venture bound to challenge and disturb anyone who sees it. Babenco is the director who made some of the best films in the past 10 years, including Kiss of the Spider Woman and Pixote. Nicholson excels as Francis Phelan, a drunk who walked out on his family 22 years prior, after a tragic accident. Ironweed, a 1983 novel by William Kennedy; Ironweed, a 1987 adaptation of Kennedy's novel; Plants. Based on the William Kennedy novel of the same name Ironweed is set in the waning years of the Depression. Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are homeless residents of Albany in 1936. The story concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the years following the Great Depression. Over the next few days, Phelan takes a few minor jobs to support Helen, while haunted by visions of his past. Since then, he has been a bum, roaming the streets and punishing himself by remembering men whom he knew, and died while he was younger in different circumstances. A number of plants use the common name “ironweed” so for clarity it’s often a good idea to use the Latin name of a plant. many species of genus Vernonia; Cyanthillium cinereum, little ironweed; Verbesina alternifolia, yellow ironweed; See also. Although set in 1938, it taps into one of the keenest social dilemmas of our time -- how to deal with homeless men and women. The worry was needless. Despite mixed reviews and being a box-office bomb, Ironweed received two nominations at the 60th Academy Awards, Best Actor (for Nicholson), and Best Actress (for Streep). To what extent would they be able to submerge themselves and make the transition to credible down-and- outers? ENTER CITY, STATE OR ZIP CODE GO. To survive is to barter for a warm shelter on a freezing night. Thursday's premiere of the film "Ironweed" will be a little like that. Even her voice is different, in a lower octave and sounding tainted by sickness. Ebert gave the film three stars out of four. He does not romanticize his characters, who are given the leeway of an ambiguous ending. February 12, 1988 "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. Ironweed (191) IMDb 6.7 2h 23min 1988 R In Depression-era Albany, NY, washed-up baseball star Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson) has become an alcoholic vagabond after a tragic accident led him to desert his family. But there is not much visible 'acting' in this movie; the actors are too good for that." On film, Ironweed plays a little like The Iceman Cometh, with elements of magic realism, which probably got Babenco the Spider web spinner the job (but these rarely work as well on celluloid as they do on the page). It's a vision of life that is despairing, yet there are humorous asides. [5], Maslin, Janet. The novel discusses one primary protagonist, who is known as Francis. Imagine showing home movies to 2,500 of your closest friends. The film stars two heavy hitters in the film world, Jack Nicholson (Francis Phelan) and Meryl Streep (Helen Archer). She delighted supper club and radio audiences with her singing voice and piano playing. But, in a quirk of … Instead, people in the grip of big emotions try to understand a trauma that changed life for all of them years before. The two meet up in a mission managed by Reverend Chester (James Gammon), and later in Oscar Reo's (Gwynne) gin mill. Ironweed is a 1987 American drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. Ironweed can be an aggressive spreader by seed and may not be suitable for smaller settings, but is very effective in background borders, cottage gardens, rain gardens and wildflower meadows. During the course of the day, a series of events unfolds and changes Francis' life forever. Other varieties of this wild plant range in height from three to about 10 feet tall. During the 1930s depression, Francis Phelan (Nicholson) wanders the city. About Ironweed. Perhaps it's the ingestion of too much alcohol that makes Francis imagine he is being followed by haunting figures from his past. Behind the runny, red-rimmed eyes, the nervous chatter and the haunted expression, Miss Streep is even more utterly changed than her costar, and she even sings well. It stars Jack Nicholson, and Meryl Streep, with Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Nathan Lane and Tom Waits in supporting roles. The film is more of a mood piece and character study than anything else. 12. ''IRONWEED,'' THE PU-litzer Prize-winning novel by William Kennedy, seems to belong to Albany as much as the ghost of Mayor Corning. Ironweed develops feeling for these unkempt losers, whose circle includes an Eskimo woman unconscious from drink and resistant to help. Roger Ebert wrote, "Nicholson and Streep play drunks in Ironweed, and actors are said to like to play drunks, because it gives them an excuse for overacting. In her attitude and bearing, there isn't anything to link her to previous screen characters. In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of Ironweed, narrated by Jonathan Davis as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks. Author William Kennedy takes us into the mind and heart of a homeless vagrant and explores the situations which have brought Francis to this heartbreaking station in life. Winner of The Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the third in Kennedy’s Albany cycle, Francis Phelan, ex-ballplayer, part-time gravedigger, and full-time bum with the gift of gab, has hit bottom. Ironweed definition is - any of a genus (Vernonia) of mostly weedy composite plants usually having alternate leaves and perfect red, purple, or white tubular flowers in terminal cymose heads. The main action of Ironweed takes place over two days in the life of its 58-year-old protagonist, Francis Phelan, a onetime professional baseball player and family man who is now homeless. Both Jack and Meryl were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances in Ironweed. Summary: An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his home town of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by William Kennedy, who also wrote the screenplay. Francis returns to his hometown of Albany, N.Y., and eventually screws up the courage to visit his wife, played with surpassing tolerance by Carroll Baker. Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany, New York, including Jay Street at Lark Street, Albany Rural Cemetery, and the Miss Albany Diner on North Broadway. 9. Part of an ensemble cast, they take us into their past through memory and hallucination while we're shown the underbelly of part of American history. Ironweed can be planted outdoors when air temperature hovers around 65 to 67 degrees F. 11. Eventually, Francis comes back to his old family house and tries to make peace with his wife Annie Phelan (Carroll Baker), his son Billy (Michael O'Keefe), and his daughter Peg (Diane Venora). There's not much of a story to Ironweed, adapted by director Hector Babenco and screenwriter William Kennedy from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Ironweed develops feeling for these unkempt losers, whose circle includes an Eskimo woman unconscious from drink and resistant to help. “Ironweed,” directed by Brazilian Hector Babenco, whose familiarity with the human sewers of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero made “ Pixote ” one of the best films of 1981, is a movie of moods, locales and voices. Sow ironweed seeds only one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch deep in the soil. He betters a ragpicker trying to cheat him out of a day's wages and says, "You gotta be fair in this life." Albany The making of "Ironweed," shot entirely in Albany and its environs in 1986, with 1,100 local folks cast as extras and dozens more hired for production jobs, was likened to "fighting a war… Ironweed is a novel discussing the lives of homeless people in the city of Albany, considering their lives under poverty and depression. Since that time, Phelan has been a shabby barfly, living from drink to drink. It stars Jack Nicholson, and Meryl Streep, with Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Nathan Lane and Tom Waits in supporting roles. Small herbaceous species are distributed throughout the world, while shrubs and trees are native primarily to tropical regions. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Nicholson) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Streep). Ironweed, any of about 500 species of perennial plants constituting the genus Vernonia of the family Asteraceae. Francis is a homeless man who has just returned to town after riding the rails on and off. Ironweed is a 1987 American drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. Download Ironweed Study Guide. Ironweed definition: any of various plants of the genus Verona , which have purple flowers and are found in... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Pauline Kael. Also sign me up for FanMail to get updates on all things movies: tickets, special offers, screenings + more. Ironweed is a great pollinator plant and nectar source and will attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing Ironweed near you.