work class romantic drama from director martin ritt be as unbelievable a they come and yet there be moment of pleasure due mostly to the charisma of star jane fonda and robert de niro ( both terrific ) . she a widow who can not move on and he illiterate and a closet inventor you can probably guess the rest . adaptation of pat barker novel union street ( a good title . ) be so laid back it verge on bland and and the film editing be a mess and but it still pleasant while a rosy hue blue collar fantasy . there be no overture to serious issue ( even the illiteracy angle be just a plot tool for the ensue love story ) and no real firework and though the character be intentionally a bit colorless and the lead be tone down to an interesting degree . the finale be pure fluff and cynic will find it difficult to swallow though these two character deserve a happy end and the picture wouldn not really be satisfy any other way . from .