Ironically, this film about two people beginning their life together is  also a movie that marks a lot of endings.  Stanley and Iris was the last movie Jane Fonda acted in, she married media mogul Ted Turner soon after.  It was also the last movie director Martin Ritt ( The Front, Norma Rae, Hud) filmed.  He died less than a year after it was released.  Ritt's long time collaborator, screen writer Harriet Frank Jr. (Murphy's Romance , The Cowboys) also stopped working after this film.  Unfortunately this final film for so many people wasn't as strong as it should have been.

Iris King (Jane Fonda) is a middle aged working mother.  Her husband recently died, and she is left working at a bakery struggling to make ends meet.  Her purse is stolen on her way home one evening, and Stanley Cox (Robert De Nero) chases after the thief.  Though the purse isn't retrieved, he walks her home.  It turns out that they work in the same factory, Stanley being the cook in the employee cafeteria.  As they continue to bump into each other, at work and around the city, they become friendly until Iris finds out Stanley's dark secret.  He cannot read or write.  Fired from his job because of his illiteracy, Stanley has a hard time finding any other employment.  He finally turns to his only friend, Iris, and asks her to teach him to read.

This story of two working class people who struggle against life and occasionally each other was touching and tender, but it could have been much better.  The relation between Stanley and Iris was poignant, and it was very heart warming, but there were some flaws that prevented it from being a really good movie.

The film had the feeling of being heavily edited after it was shot.  Time was very strange.  It was hard to tell if an hour or a month went by between scenes, and there was at least one continuity error where Iris gets here hair permed, but she doesn't appear in the new hair style for over three weeks (at which time Stanley does say something about it.)

There are characters who play an important role in the first reel, who disappear soon after with no explanation.  At the beginning of the movie, Iris' sister, Sharon (Swoosie Kurtz,)  and brother in-law, Joe (Jamey Sheridan,) are living with her.  The relatives get in a fight over money (they are both unemployed,) and Joe ends up hitting Sharon.  He then makes an awkward pass as Iris.  What seems to be an important subplot is dropped.  Soon after that Sharon and Joe are just gone.

None of  the background characters are given much detail, and there really aren't any subplots.  Though there is ample opportunity to explore some of the other people in Stanley and Iris' lives, all this potentially interesting story matter is glossed over.  Iris' teenage daughter gets pregnant, but the father, or any of her boyfriends never even appear.  After having the baby, she drops out of school and gets a job in the same factory as her mother, but Iris only says a single sentence about it in the whole movie.  There were many instances where potentially interesting story lines where ignored.

That would be fine, if they chose a stronger plot to go with, but they didn't.  The main gripe I have with this movie is that there is no conflict.  The film has no protagonist.  Iris doesn't seem to have monetary problems after it is mentioned once in the beginning of the film.  Stanley can't read, and his illiteracy does cause him some problems, but he solves them (usually off camera) within a scene or two.  The attraction to this movie is watching these two very nice people get together.  But since there are very few roadblocks to them becoming a couple this doesn't seem like a challenge.

The acting was very good.  Fonda did a great job capturing the weariness of a her character, fighting each day to put food on the table and raise her children.  The only critique I had about her performance was that she looked too good.  Her toned muscles and fit body did not fit her role, and the fact that every outfit she wore looked great on her made you think that maybe they weren't all purchased at a discount store.  (Speaking of which, for someone who lives in the Northeast and can only afford to own two sweaters, Iris certainly had a lot of different outfits.)

The person who stole the show though, was Robert De Niro.  A consummate actor, De Niro was able to endow Stanley with a terrible flaw, yet have him still retain his dignity.  Stanley was embarrassed that he couldn't read, but he still had his pride.  The scene where Stanley asks Iris to tutor him could have made De Niro's character come off as pitiful and sad, but it didn't.  It showed him conquering his anxiety and doing what he know had to be done.  An excellent job.
 

Audio:

This DVD was presented in stereo surround sound in either English or Spanish with optional subtitles in English, French, or Spanish.  The sound quality was good, with no noticeable hiss or other defects.  The dialog was clear and centered over the screen, there was very little directionality in the sound track.  The music composed by John Williams was very appropriate for the movie, and came through crisp and clear.

Video:

This two sided DVD has a widescreen anamorphic version of the film on one side and a pan and scan version on the other.  The image was very good.  The colors were accurate and there was an excellent amount of definition.  The steam in the bakery scenes were reproduced well, with no pixalation.  Digital encoding defects were at a minimum.  I viewed the movie in widescreen, but the pan and scan version seemed to be of similar quality in the spot check that I made.  A high quality transfer.

The Extras:

The only extra on this disc is a trailer for the movie.

Final Thoughts:

Though the characters were interesting, and the acting superb, Stanley and Iris didn't really work for me.  There was no development of the background characters, and interesting plots were ignored.  The conflict was very minimal, and it was obvious how the movie was goig to end from the very begining.  Overall, a mediocre effort by some talented filmmakers.  Rent it.