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Jane Fonda and Robert DeNiro star in this working class drama as Stanley and Iris, who are both employees at the same New England bakery. The two--who have never met even though they work together--come together when Stanley bumps into Iris on the street right after her purse is stolen. He offers to walk her home, and the two soon learn that they have much more in common than just their place of work; they both have tremendously trying personal lives. However, when Iris learns that Stanley is illiterate, she inadvertently gets him fired from his job, prompting Stanley, who is coming to grips with his handicap for the first time, to ask Iris if she will help him learn to read. In order to convey a sense of what being illiterate is like, director Martin Ritt infuses the film with a tremendous feeling for its locale, a small New England town, emphasizing Stanley's feeling of isolation as he goes about his daily business without being able to read. Of course, DeNiro's amazing performance as Stanley helps too, and, as Iris, Fonda plays wonderfully against him, making the film a great romance as well as a great drama.
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