Ironweed is a 1987 film directed by Argentine-born Brazilian Héctor Babenco. The picture is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by William Kennedy and concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the Great Depression. Kennedy also wrote the screenplay. It stars Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Tom Waits, and Nathan Lane. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Nicholson) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Streep). 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. Francis Phelan (Jack Nicholson) is a washed-up baseball player who deserted his family back in the 1910s when he accidentally and drunkenly dropped his son and killed him. Since then, Phelan has been a bum, punishing...