Few would argue Meryl Streep's Oscar loss to Cher in "Moonstruck." Neither would many defend "Ironwood" as a lost Streep gem. At least she delivers several majestic moments in an otherwise middling effort.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 22, 2024

Misery is made into an esthetic. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Apr 8, 2020

Perhaps the heart of the matter is the false lure of the original: some books, such as Ironweed despite strung visual incidents and an almost palpable sense of place, just do not translate to the screen.

| Jan 28, 2020

If you enjoyed Richard E Grant and Melissa McCarthy as on-the-skids New Yorkers in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, here's an even starrier example of Hollywood poverty porn.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 3, 2019

Ironweed makes the sadness seem isolated and dangerous and unreal; it only exists where the bums live, it doesn't reach into the lives of good families.

| Nov 8, 2016

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

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2011

Dim, grim, and relentlessly depressing.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Dec 19, 2011

Watching "Ironweed" is like having a large, metal object lodged in your brain for 2 1/2 hours. It hurts.

| Dec 19, 2011

The film becomes becalmed and confusing; it lacks the novel's great unwavering trajectory.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 19, 2011

Unrelentingly bleak, Ironweed is a film without an audience and no reason for being except its own self-importance.

| Mar 26, 2009

...slow and crushing, a heavy film that has a simple plot, a despairing tone and none of the ostentatious "acting" often evinced in Nicholson's later career

| Original Score: 87/100 | Feb 27, 2009

deftly done

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 27, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2008

At last, a real part for Nicholson to sink his teeth into.

| Jun 24, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 8, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 5, 2004

A direo burocrtica e auto-indulgente de Babenco e o roteiro sem foco desperdiam as boas atuaes de Nicholson e Streep.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 26, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 18, 2003

Hector Babenco puts the accent on the story's spiritual dimensions in this screen translation of William Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

| Jul 19, 2003