Movies by Nora Ephron, 6-11
Under Nora Ephron's guidance, Meg Ryan's romantic comedy career continued to soar. Here is the continuation of our list of Nora Ephron films.
6. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make this Ephron-original sparkle all the more under her precise direction. Hanks plays a recent widower who finds new possibilities for love when his son puts him on national radio. A long-distance relationship sparks, and challenges present themselves as the couple tries to meet. Sleepless was anything but a sleeper, bringing in more than $125 million at the box office and garnering positive reviews from critics.
7. Mixed Nuts (1994)
Steve Martin, one of Ephron's favorite actors, stars in this madcap comedy about a crisis hotline business during the busy holiday season. Late comedy great Madeline Kahn also stars, along with Anthony LaPaglia. Ephron served as writer and director for Mixed Nuts, so when the critics universally panned it, she was doubly to blame, though the film still took in around $6 million.
8. Michael (1996)
The lives of two tabloid reporters (Andie MacDowell and William Hurt) are changed forever when they find themselves investigating a claim that the archangel Michael is living in Iowa. The movie that reignited John Travolta's career was also a huge hit for Ephron, who wrote and directed Michael. This time the formula worked, and the movie took in $95 million at the box office.
9. You've Got Mail (1998)
Ephron reunited Sleepless in Seattle stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks for this romantic comedy about an indie-bookstore owner and a bookstore chain bigwig. The two are business rivals but fall for each other over the Internet, not realizing the true identity of the other until they're hooked. A whopping $115 million in box office receipts later, Ephron showed that she was still the master of the romantic comedy genre.
10. Hanging Up (2000)
Ephron and her sister Delia teamed up for the first Ephron film of the 21st century, about a trio of sisters who bond over the death of their father. Stereotypical "hysterical-female" breakdowns and makeups occur, played out by A-list actors Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton (who also directed), and Lisa Kudrow. The film was panned by critics and only brought in $36 million -- about half as much as it cost to make. The movie was based on a book written by Delia Ephron, but it simply didn't translate to the screen as well as the sisters would've liked.
11. Bewitched (2005)
With megastar Nicole Kidman and popular funnyman Will Ferrell, the film version of the 1960s TV series should've brought bigger box office returns than it did. Ephron wrote and directed this much-hyped film, but it didn't do as well as expected. Still, the movie pulled in $62 million at the box office, even though critics didn't find much "bewitching" about it.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen
