Maybe Nora Ephron should have based her story on somebody else’s marriage. That way, she could have provided the distance and perspective that good comedy needs. Instead, she based Heartburn – first her novel and now her screenplay – on her own marriage. And she apparently had too much anger to transform the facts into entertaining fiction. This is a bitter, sour movie about two people who are only marginally interesting (…). Here and there, we see glimmers of the greatness of both Nicholson and Streep, who on an ordinary day with a decent script can act circles around anybody. There’s a scene in a maternity ward where Streep comes out of anesthesia and turns to see Nicholson standing there holding their baby. She asks if it’s theirs, and the goofy grin on his face is a moment of pure joy. Roger Ebert