Not even bad in a good way

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are reasons enough to watch this movie, but it's actually a wonderful film. Throw in a little of the weirdness/charm of Tom Waits and this instantly became one of my favorite films ever made.Nicholson and Streep are just living the bum life in 1938, while we slowly get bits of Nicholson's history, which is a tragic one. Revisiting his home town from 22 years ago makes him realize the whiskey didn't destroy nearly enough of his memory as he probably would have wanted. It's just such a joy to see these actors play these lovable weirdo's. I think some people expected a comedy out of this, but it's definitely more on the dramatic (sometimes even disturbing) side. Of course the craziness has a dark sense of humor to it, but it's played 100% serious. This could have failed miserably or at least have an entirely different tone if they didn't have such great actor's playing these bums. They really made the bums look realistically filthy in this movie, but for some reason on the poster Nicholson has perfectly white teeth... This is not the case in the movie so don't get fooled by that. Another minor complaint would be that Meryl Streep's character should have had just a little more screen time. Her character is just so much fun to watch. She does have a big and important part in the movie, but at a certain point in the movie the focus goes more to Nicholson. That said, Nicholson is as awesome as ever and ultimately this is his character's story. Great story, great cinematography, overall great look (costumes, make-up et cetera) and AMAZING casting and acting. Streep's "He's me Pal" song will never leave you. (You'll be looking it up on YouTube over and over and over again) Overall Great movie (9/10)Favorite Quote: Goddamn dead men, traveling around together...

Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by William Kennedy, "Ironweed" is a somewhat interesting film by director Hector Babenco. Starring Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep and Tom Waits, the film watches as a trio of homeless bums struggle to survive during the Great Depression.Whilst "Ironweed" contains a number of strong vignettes, particularly a last act sequence in which Nicholson's character attempts to reconnect to the family he abandoned, the film is mostly obvious, melodramatic and paints too narrow a view of the Depression. Elsewhere Nicholson and Streep mistake overacting for naturalism, Babenco's cinematography is washed out and the director demonstrates poor shot selection. The film gathers a series of convincing sets and impressive real locations, but Babenco can't shoot them effectively. Tom Waits stands outs as a dying drunk.7.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

I saw this movie as a young teenager a few years ago (yeah I know, while everyone my age was watching TRL I was watching this), then managed to find a copy of it, and even to this day I still feel the same wonderful impact each time I watch it.I won't cover what's already been said before about the performances because it'll just be repeating the obvious. Everyone here gives unforgettable performances. What I will give is a small list of some of my favorite moments within the film: 1) The haunting surreal imagery that begins the opening credits. Accompanied by the beautiful hymning music it's a great introduction to this movie.2) The first scene with Tom Wait's character, who forever remained such an innocent and tragic figure.3) Nicholson first meeting at his son's grave. Such a beautifully shot scene, the warm sun and the river in the background framing him.4) That one scene where Nicholson stands outside his long lost home at night, pondering about what to do.5) That unforgettable scene with Meryl Streep's character singing to a crowd 6) Tom Waits staring up at the sky as he reminisces about Isaac Newton and the stars 7) That funny scene between Nicholson and the junk collector 8) And finally that last haunting scene where Nicholson finally decides to throw out his booze while he's on the train, then begins reminiscing about his son's room and how it catches the morning sun. Once again accompanied by that beautiful music that final scene always makes me tear up.There's many more memorable scenes but for time's sake these will do.It makes me wonder why such a beautiful movie hasn't been recognized by more viewers, or why it hasn't been released on DVD here in America, or why a copy of the soundtrack was never made available. Oh well. Still a great movie to catch.

After seeing the two starring actors listed as the top billings in this high rated film, I felt intrigued to view it... so I did. Little did I know I was in for one of the most depressing films of all time with some of the strongest acting ever put forth. Jack Nicholson, as always, puts on a performance for the ages, earning him his well deserved Oscar Nomination. The sinful part, however, is that Meryll Streep did not win her Oscar Nomination. With flawless ease, Streep carried her character through triumph (the one or two we see) and tragedy, letting every moment live inside each viewer. After speaking so highly of this film, you would think I would strongly recommend it. Yet, I would not recommend this film simply because it is just too dark with far too few bright spots. This incredible film deserves to be seen, and if you are just a movie-goer who enjoys a film with more to offer than meets the eye, this is the movie for you. Don't expect to be happy after the film, though - despite the beautiful performances put on by all. Brilliant movie on all accounts. With a few more bright spots, this would be a guaranteed 10/10 film. B+