Undeniably one of the most influential women filmmakers in the romantic-comedy genre, cinema trailblazer Nancy Meyers has been creating Hollywood hits since 1980. The visionary has had a significant impact on the movie-making industry, and her recognizable directorial style and groundbreaking approach to the craft has garnered immense respect and praise. Meyers is a savvy director, writer and producer, and had her hand writing and/or producing a slew of classic flicks like Private Benjamin, Baby Boom and Father of the Bride. Her feature directorial debut was in 1998’s beloved romantic comedy The Parent Trap, in which Meyers provided Lindsay Lohan with her breakthrough role as a pair of twins. Since then, the powerhouse creator has gone on to craft some of cinema’s finest and most memorable pictures.
Meyers has worked with deeply admired and accomplished performers, such as Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in The Holiday, and Meryl Streep for It’s Complicated. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and nominations, including the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay as well as Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. These are the best Nancy Meyers films as both a writer and director.
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8 Baby Boom
MGM/UA Communications Co.
1987’s romantic comedy Baby Boom stars Diane Keaton as a Manhattan yuppie whose personal and professional life is thrown into turmoil when she discovers that a long-lost cousin has died and left her fourteen-month old baby girl as inheritance. The film was written by Nancy Meyers with her then-husband Charles Shyer, who also served as director; the creative duo would collaborate on multiple projects during their marriage. Of the picture, Meyers explained that, “Our movie is about someone who never planned on motherhood. The comedy comes from J.C.’s ineptness to deal with this surprise. Ten years ago, Baby Boom would have probably starred a man, because not until recently, with the great female drive toward careerism and success, would it be believable that a woman could be so ill-prepared for motherhood.” The rom-com was received favorably by critics and earned two Golden Globe nominations. It also spawned a short-lived television series of the same name.
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7 It’s Complicated
Universal Pictures
The 2009 romantic comedy It’s Complicated was both written and directed by Meyers, and follows a single mother and bakery owner who starts a secret affair with her ex-husband, ten years after their divorce; she also finds herself attracted to her architect. The incredibly talented Merly Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin star in the flick, with Streep portraying Jane Adler as she attempts to juggle the two men in her life. It’s Complicated was met with a mixed response but was a hit with audiences, becoming the director’s third-highest-grossing project to date. The Boston Globe praised the comedy and Meyers, calling it “the most emotionally sophisticated of all Meyers’s fantasies.” For their charming and engaging portrayals as the cozy exes, Streep and Baldwin earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations as did Meyers, including the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay.
6 What Women Want
Paramount Pictures
Mel Gibson portrays chauvinistic advertising exec Nick Marshall, who magically acquires the ability to hear what women are thinking in the 2000 romantic fantasy comedy What Women Want. Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei and Alan Alda join the veteran actor for the picture, which follows Nick as he uses his newfound “gift” to outwit his new boss Darcy Maguire (Hunt), whom he ultimately falls for. Gibson was dedicated to being authentic in his portrayal, and actually did wax his legs while filming the bathroom scene; it did not hurt him as much as it did his character and he teased all the women on set, saying, “Come on, this doesn’t hurt at all!” Upon its release, the comedy became the then-most successful film ever directed by a woman, bringing in over $370 million at the box office. What Women Want was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and helped further establish Meyers as both a prominent director and writer who can bring in audiences.
5 The Holiday
Sony Pictures Releasing
The 2006 romantic comedy The Holiday is a beloved Christmas flick that features an impressive ensemble cast including the delightful Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black; Meyers wrote the movie with those actors specifically in mind for the characters. The warm and fuzzy comedy follows Amanda and Iris, two lovelorn women who decide to arrange a home exchange during the holiday season in order to escape their respective heartbreaks. Neither leading lady expected to find romance during their getaway, but Amanda (Diaz) falls for Iris’s (Winslet) charismatic brother Graham (Law), and Winslet ends up becoming attracted to film composer Miles (Black). The heartwarming and insanely charming film garnered praise for the performances of its endearing leads, as well as its visual aesthetic design. NOW Toronto applauded The Holiday, writing, “Nancy Meyers pulls off a classic comedy tribute…the cast pull it off, selling their characters’ singlehood, nailing their occasional sight gags and earning our laughs and tears, which often occur in the same scene.”
4 Private Benjamin
Warner Bros.
In the 1980 comedy flick Private Benjamin, the lovable Goldie Hawn portrays a sheltered Jewish-American princess who decides to join the Women’s Army Corps after her husband passes away on their wedding night. She finds herself at odds with the tough Captain Lewis (Eileen Brennan) and goes on an intense journey of self-discovery and personal growth. The actress and Nancy Meyers both executive produced the picture, and experienced intense push-back due to movie studios fearing that a female lead with no male co-star would be box-office poison. According to Myers, “Every single studio in Hollywood read it and passed on it…One studio called Goldie and said ‘if you make this movie it’s a career ender.” Despite the conventional wisdom of the time, Private Benjamin was one of the biggest box-office draws of the year, earning nearly $70 million. The film was even nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Hawn and Best Screenplay for Meyers.
3 Something’s Gotta Give
Sony Pictures Releasing
For Nancy Meyers’s 2003 romantic comedy, the renowned director enlisted the talent of some of cinema’s finest, including Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand and Keanu Reeves. It tells the story of an aging womanizer with a taste for young women who ends up falling for the mother of his 29-year-old girlfriend despite the pair being polar opposites. The refreshing rom-com was once again a risky gamble for the director, with film distributors fearing Nicholson and Keaton were too old to be bankable in a romance flick. However, Meyers and the incredibly gifted leads proved naysayers wrong, as Something’s Gotta Give was a box-office hit with both the critics and audiences, with Keaton winning a Golden Globe for her performance. Newsweek commended the picture, writing, “The movie, which ricochets between farce and poignancy, casts just enough romantic pixie dust to leave you smiling. It’s certainly not the last word on the subject, but it’s an amiable start.”
2 Father of the Bride
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
A remake of the 1950 film of the same name, 1991’s beloved comedy Father of the Bride follows George Banks, a businessman and athletic shoe company owner who finds his world turned upside down when his daughter reveals that she is getting married. Legendary comedian Steve Martin stars as Banks, who finds himself reluctant to give his daughter away, and also features the dazzling Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams and Martin Short. The tender and heartwarming comedy resonated with audiences everywhere, becoming Meyers’s biggest box-office success yet. Martin garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of the overprotective George, with famed critic Roger Ebert commenting, “This is a movie with heart, and there are little moments in it when Martin is deeply moved by the fact that this perfect creature he brought into the world is now going to start a family of her own.” The success of the picture led to the 1995 sequel, Father of the Bride II.
1 The Parent Trap
In her motion picture debut, Lindsay Lohan took on double duty when she starred as identical twins Hallie Parker and Annie James in the 1998 romantic comedy The Parent Trap. A remake of the 1961 classic, the film was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers and features a dynamite cast including Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as the sly twins’ hoodwinked parents. Lohan’s casting as the sisters forced Meyers to shoot the picture in motion control, a requirement she felt was quite complicated. “I really didn’t know how to do it. We had a prep day to go over the process, and by the end of the day I had a little better understanding. But I approached the movie like it wasn’t an effects film; I just tried to make it authentic.” Over 1,500 young actresses submitted audition tapes for the dual role, such as Scarlett Johansson and Mara Wilson, but Meyers was looking for a “little Diane Keaton” to play the parts and was blown away by Lohan. The romantic comedy was a slam dunk with audiences and critics alike, with Lohan earning positive praise in her breakthrough role. Time Out proclaimed, “The light comedy is sweetly timed, the direction smart and assured, and the visuals bright, colorful, unobtrusive and faultless.”
