The Nora Ephron Movie That Wasn't

I have commented many times about HEARTBURN and felt that it could have been a better movie. There were some good scenes that, I felt, were never carried out such as the scene later in the movie when Rachel (Meryl Streep's character) threatens Mark (Jack Nicholson's character) by saying that she is going to get all the dirt about his mistress into a gossip column. Anyway, for what it is worth, I want to mention that some people who did not like HEARTBURN said it had to do with the writing and that Nora Ephron based the characters "too close to home." Also, I read that Carl Bernstein (Ephron's ex-husband and of whom the Mark character was based) was outraged that he was to be portrayed as the heavy in this movie and did everything in his control to downplay the bad behavior of his character. Hence, the movie suffered from constant re-writes. Furthermore, the movie was not helped by the fact that Mandy Patinkin was fired after one day and Jack Nicholson was called in on short notice to replace him. Casting may have been part of the problem. I remember my Dad saying some years ago that Dustin Hoffman would have been a better choice for the Mark character. After all, Dustin Hoffman did portray Carl Bernstein in ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. Anyway, my point is that HEARTBURN was a troubled project when it was being filmed.