An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
Acting
Nicholson and Streep at their most physically transformed and heartbreaking.
Cinematography
Frostbitten Albany streets that look like they want to apologize.
Writing
William Kennedy adapting his own Pulitzer Prize novel with zero compromise.
Director
Héctor Babenco
Jack Nicholson
Francis Phelan
Meryl Streep
Helen Archer
Carroll Baker
Annie Phelan
Michael O'Keefe
Billy
Diane Venora
Peg
Fred Gwynne
Oscar Reo
Margaret Whitton
Katrina
Tom Waits
Rudy
Jake Dengel
Pee Wee
Nathan Lane
Harold Allen
James Gammon
Reverend Chester
Laura Esterman
Nora
Will Zahrn
Rowdy Dick
Joe Grifasi
Jack
Hy Anzell
Rosskam
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster!) plays a hobo — casting so unexpected it actually works.
Babenco, fresh from 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' was an odd choice for this very American story — but his outsider eye captures Albany's specific rot and grandeur.
US
