The Case for a Nancy Meyers Winter

When it’s so cold that your breath takes shape in the sky, and the sun begins to set just after lunch, there is little you wouldn’t do to feel cozy. A crochet blanket, a candle that smells like fallen leaves, a fireplace that crackles and pops intermittently, and a cup of something steaming and sweet - the almost perfect recipe for a cozy Autumn night in. What makes it truly faultless is adding a Nancy Meyers movie to the mix.

Although the majority of her films are not set to the beat of crunchy, leaf-lined streets, there’s an unbeatable, unmissable comfort that comes with queuing up a Meyers movie that brings warmth to a cold, dark evening. The screenwriter turned producer turned director is the mind behind many beloved cozy cult classics, plenty of which you may not know were associated with her, which is a downright shame.

You’ve got her first-ever film-related project, Private Benjamin (1980), which earned her a screenwriting nomination at the Academy Awards, to her producer era with Baby Boom (1987) and Father of the Bride (1991). Finally, she stepped into the director’s shoes where she belongs with the likes of The Parent Trap (1998) - what a directorial debut - What Men Want (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006) and The Intern (2015). Get this woman on the Hollywood Walk of Fame immediately; she currently holds the title of highest-grossing female director after all.

So what makes her movies just so good for the cozy season ahead?

Sweet, sweet soundscape

The score of the Nancy Meyer universe is the kind of playlist you would throw on to set the mood for a perfect Sunday at home. These are the soundtracks that make you want to dance in your kitchen with a loved one at midnight, the smell of something buttery and homemade wafting around you, and you can feel in your bones that there’s rain on the way. Heaven.

It’s Complicated has one of my favourite original scores among all her movies, and the fact that it’s by Hans Zimmer is the cherry on top. A bit of mischief and the Californian sea breeze; Zimmer effortlessly captures and emulates these notes through the film’s soundscape. A magician of his own kind.

Meyers and Zimmer are an unstoppable duo, having worked on three of her most successful directorial projects: Something’s Gotta Give and The Holiday, too. It’s not too big a leap to assume that The Holiday is Meyer’s most rewatched film, if not its second to The Parent Trap, and the red ribbon that finishes off that gift that keeps on giving is, you guessed it, the music. Jack Black’s tenderhearted Miles inserts music into the story, serving as a film composer, which makes you fall in love with the movie's score even more. A nod to the fourth wall that you wish wasn’t there.

Casting is underrated

There is not a single picture that Meyers was involved in that did not involve an incredible cast, a nod from her producing days, no doubt, and of course, her brilliant choice in casting directors. The Parent Trap is a cult classic for a variety of reasons, but it wouldn’t be what it is without the perfect cast crafted by Ilene Starger.

A 12 year old Lindsey Lohan taking on the role(s) of twins - one with a British accent at that, was perhaps a risky move but one that paid off in spades, Dennis Quaid has that charming ruggedness that you don’t often find in romcoms nowadays even though you can sense that that’s what the movies of today are desperately reaching for, and then there’s the late Natasha Richardson who truly was one of one.

In a similar vein, Father of the Bride (1991) would be nothing if not for the specific spark brought to it by Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. A bulletproof duo who could master comedy and heart together and seamlessly bring the audience along with them.

Directing the dream

The world Meyers creates for the screen is one most people would dream of, for many reasons, but the primary reason is its beauty. There are beautiful people, breathtaking landscapes, and food that looks too good to eat - a perfect fantasy that many would willingly be whisked away to at the snap of their fingers.

The most spectacular of it all, if you really must narrow it down, is the houses in her movies. The word house in this instance feels too minimal a descriptor for these lavish abodes, too pretty to truly be lived in, but the desire to transport yourself there is overwhelming. This is a trait that has been noticed by many, so much so that she was asked in an interview for Letterboxd on the importance of the homes which are the centre in her films to which she replied, “My movies get too much attention about how they look so I’m happy that we’re approaching it from the angle of why they look a certain way.”

As with any mastermind like Meyers, everything is for a reason. She goes on to say in this interview that a pretty house is not just a pretty house in her projects; it is instead an extension of the characters, offering further insight into who they are. In Something’s Gotta Give, which she wrote, directed and produced following her own divorce from her longtime creative partner Charles Shyer, Meyers drew the house that we see on screen. “I had to draw it out because they were stuck in this house for so long [...] and I wanted that house to look like a decorator did it, because I wanted it to look like she had just made money from this Broadway show that she had written.” Just like the perfect Pinterest board, which many of her movie homes live on, she curated every visual detail with precision, and it paid off by the bucketful.

Neverending rewatch

When you add all these elements together, you get the perfect rewatch. They’re comforting, nostalgic and the right mix of heartwarming and humorous. The characters in her movies feel like old friends that you’re seeing after a long time, and you still remember which cupboard they keep the mugs in, even after this time. They feel safe and, most importantly, never boring, no matter how scratched the DVD copy is.

This is ultimately a hallmark of a perfect movie, not the awards or the amount of millions made at the box office, but the ability to withstand the test of time, which is Meyers’ best talent of all.

So this winter, make sure to squeeze in a rewatch or a first-time watch if you’re so lucky. A recommendation, if you need one, Something’s Gotta Give for Diane, the last project she worked on with Meyers. Get the tissues and the turtlenecks ready.