1990 - POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, it's all about Meryl

The third collaboration between Meryl Streep and Mike Nichols.  This is a film based on Carrie Fisher's barely fictional account of her drug addiction and relationship with her mother Debbie Reynolds played by Shirley MacLaine. 

At this point in his life Nichols was probably on the downside of career.  He was now putting together films that were slick entertainments for the most part.  But his days of making films like The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Carnal Knowledge appeared to be behind him.  Nichols was still a very skilled filmmaker who knew how to get the best out of his actors and could get the most out of a comic situation in his films.

 

Nichols apparently had considerable input into Carrie Fisher's screenplay and his satirical scenes of the filmmaking business were at times quite funny.  Since he had a considerable reputation in the theater and Hollywood he was able to attract some major performers in this case Gene Hackman (playing a thinly disguised version of Mike Nichols),  Rob Reiner, Richard Dreyfuss and Simon Callow.  Nichols was even able to get a decent performance out of Dennis Quaid playing Meryl Streep's sort of love interest.

 

This is an entertaining film, however if you are looking for a semi serious examination of a woman attempting to overcome her drug addiction this isn't it.  What this film is actually about is a love letter to Meryl Streep who is in every scene.  Mike Nichols and Meryl Streep were admirers of each other and it certainly shows with Nichols favoring her in about every scene sometimes at the expense of the other performers.

The running time is 101 minutes.