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The term “Nancy Meyers movies” has developed into something quite different. The atmosphere Nancy Meyers creates in her films is instantly recognizable; it is impossible to overlook that buttery lighting falling on enormous kitchen islands, cozy fireplaces, and characters in cashmere discussing matters of love and life. For more than four decades working as a screenwriter, director, and producer,
Meyers has created one of the most unique bodies of work ever: films where people get to see how the chaos of adulthood unfolds in beautiful places.
However, the unique thing about her movies does not consist of setting alone. There is a common theme running through almost all her films: adult women (and later on also men) trying to cope with themselves once they discover that they have to live alone because of divorce, career failure, or simply because they are wearing the wrong skin.
Nancy Meyers Movies:
Whether you are ready for an autumn movie-watching marathon, are preparing for a holiday marathon, or are still familiarizing yourself with her films, here are 10 movies to watch.
1. Private Benjamin (1980)
This was Meyers’ first screenplay ever to be produced, along with Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller. Meyers won her first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for this movie, which starred Goldie Hawn in the role of a pampered widow who joined the Army impulsively after her husband’s death.
2. Baby Boom (1987)
Diane Keaton stars as a highly successful career woman from New York, whose life is changed completely by an inherited child. This movie became one of the earliest prototypes of the “career woman reevaluation” plot that Meyers continued to explore all her life, receiving the Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Comedy.
3. Father of the Bride (1991)
The remake of an earlier film, written together with Meyers, starring Steve Martin as a father having a panic attack about his daughter’s marriage. Became one of Meyers’ most beloved films to watch around the holidays.
Pic Source: Shat Podcasts
4. Father of the Bride Part II (1995)
The film is a continuation, featuring George Banks in another stage of his life with two new challenges on hand – both his daughter pregnant and his wife. The film embraces a more sentimental approach, with family-centric themes that won hearts in the first part.
5. The Parent Trap (1998)
This is Nancy Meyers’ directorial debut, with Lindsay Lohan taking the roles of twins who were born separately but meet each other, planning to make their parents come together after separation. In the film, we can see the formation of her style, which she uses till the end of her career.
6. What Women Want (2000)
In this film, Mel Gibson plays a chauvinistic advertiser who gets the superpower of hearing what women think after an accident. It became one of the best box-office films, with Nancy Meyers in the directing chair.
7. Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson are the leading characters of the film, playing a pair of lovers who meet each other accidentally after a health problem he has at her beach house. This is the most representative example of “Nancy Meyers house.”
Pic Source: Movies Anywhere
8. The Holiday (2006)
This movie shows two broken-hearted women (played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) who swap houses for the holiday season and surprisingly fall in love with someone. Actually, this movie has been rated as one of the most-viewed comfort movies of her entire career, even with the addition of her cottage and mansion movies.
9. It’s Complicated (2009)
This is a comedy movie that shows Meryl Streep as a newly divorced woman who falls in love with her divorced husband (Alec Baldwin), who is remarried, and at the same time she is pursued by her architect (Steve Martin).
Pic Source: IMDb
10. The Intern (2015)
This movie shows Robert De Niro playing an intern at 70 years old in a tech company that has been established by Anne Hathaway.
All ten films of Nancy Meyers combined give an idea of a definite evolution — from the rougher and sarcastic comedies of the ’80s to the refined dramedies for which she would become famous in the following decades. However, the common thread remains always the same — a person (usually a woman) who finds himself/herself at a crossroads, a house that serves as a character itself, and a basic understanding that it is never too late to start afresh.
This might be one of the reasons why these films have aged into comfort-watching movies instead of becoming mere period pieces — sure, the houses were inspiring Pinterest boards of a whole decade, but the emotions hidden behind that magnificent lighting remain the key element here.
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