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It’s almost impossible to talk about the modern movie business without referring to Nora Ephron. Her so-called Big Three rom-coms—When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail—revitalized the genre with their nuanced stories of love, sex, and friendship and the authenticity of their female protagonists. But the powerhouse filmmaker’s oeuvre didn’t end there: Over the course of her career, she penned 13 features—three of which landed her Oscar nominations—and directed seven of those films. Among her features were biopics, comedies both dark and slapstick, eccentric dramedies, and mob movies. Even when her efforts didn’t pay off, the sharpness of her wit and her talent for character building were still rewarding to watch.
From the hits to the misses (and everything in between), here Vogue ranks all of Nora Ephron’s movies.
14. Lucky Numbers (2000)
Nora Ephron was nothing short of brilliant, but Lucky Numbers, a Coen brothers–esque dark comedy based on the 1980 Pennsylvania lottery scandal, was a critical and commercial failure. In the film, three greedy people—including Nick Perry, the local weatherman and lotto announcer (John Travolta)—attempt to rig the game. Adam Resnick, who wrote the screenplay, never thought that Ephron was the right fit for the film. “Nora was good at her thing, romantic comedies, but this just wasn’t something for her,” he told New York magazine in 2015. (Lucky Numbers was the only film Ephron directed but did not write.) “I guess she wanted to try something different.” Despite boasting a cast filled with stars like Travolta, Tim Roth, Lisa Kudrow, Michael Moore, and Maria Bamford, the film comes off as rather boring and tonally uneven. The one highlight is Kudrow, who amuses as an opportunistic lotto girl.
13. Cookie (1989)
Cookie isn’t your typical mob movie. Instead, the film focuses on the relationship between rebellious teen Cookie (Emily Lloyd), the daughter of mid-level mobster Dino (Peter Falk), and his mistress, Lenore (Dianne Wiest), whom he hires as his chauffeur. With Susan Seidelman directing, the film is a campy affair with some incredible sartorial choices, but the bulk of its plot is squeezed into the last act, which ultimately makes it feel rushed. That said, for Falk fans, Cookie is required viewing.
12. My Blue Heaven (1990)
Ephron and her second husband, Nick Pileggi, each released vastly different films about mobster Henry Hill within about a month of one another. Unlike his Goodfellas, her My Blue Heaven was a slapstick comedy centered on Vinnie (Steve Martin)—a wiseguy sent to suburbia under cover of witness protection—and his friendship with Barney (Rick Moranis), a straitlaced FBI agent. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the real star of the movie is Joan Cusack’s Hannah, the DA who wants to put Vinnie behind bars but strikes up a romance with Barney. It’s her tart sense of humor, rather than Vinnie’s cliché mobster flourishes, that carries the film.
11. Hanging Up (2000)
Based on Delia Ephron’s novel of the same name, Hanging Up paid homage to her dynamic with her alcoholic screenwriter father and aspects of her relationships with her sisters. The three leads—Meg Ryan as Eve, a neurotic party planner; Diane Keaton as Georgia, a self-absorbed magazine editor; and Lisa Kudrow as Maddy, a soap-opera star—deliver plenty of charisma, but the film, unfortunately, lacks any real dramatic tension, attempting to squeeze too much biographical information into its 95 minutes. In the end, it plays more like a slice-of-life drama than it means to.
10. Mixed Nuts (1994)
When Ephron first released Mixed Nuts, it wasn’t exactly a hit, grossing under $7 million at the box office. But in the years since, it’s found a cult following. Set on Christmas Eve, the film follows a star-studded cast of eccentrics (played by Steve Martin, Rita Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Madeline Kahn, Liev Schrieber, Adam Sandler, Parker Posey, Rob Reiner, and more) in Venice Beach. It’s pretty dark and pretty wacky, revolving around the suicide-prevention hotline run by a guy named Philip (Martin). But parts of it, including the depiction of a transgender woman, haven’t aged very well.
9. Bewitched (2005)
Bewitched may not have been a critical or commercial success, but the concept was ahead of its time. A movie in which a real witch who wants to be normal ends up in a TV remake of the hit show Bewitched (about a witch who wants to be normal)? It was awfully meta. Yet while Nicole Kidman is effortlessly charming as the nose-wiggling Isabel, the chemistry between her Will Ferrell, as Jack, is largely nonexistent. Perhaps if the casting had been different, the film would have been better received. In any case, Shirley MacLaine’s witchy robes make an occasional rewatch worth it.
8. This Is My Life (1992)
This Is My Life—the first film Nora Ephron directed—is famously the movie that made Lena Dunham want to become a filmmaker, and it’s easy to see why. This Is My Life is a slice-of-life story about a single mom, Dottie (Julie Kavner), giving a career in comedy a shot after inheriting some money while her daughters (Samantha Mathis and Gaby Hoffman) grapple with the complexities of growing up. Of course, Ephron adds some incredible character quirks: Eccentric talent agent Arnold (Dan Akroyd) enjoys eating paper, while his assistant Claudia (Carrie Fisher) speaks to Dottie’s kids as if they’re adults. But even more delightful is that the film’s soundtrack is entirely by Carly Simon.
7. Michael (1996)
At the heart of this rom-com is a hedonistic archangel named Michael (John Travolta), a journalist (William Hurt), and a so-called angel expert (Andie MacDowell). Though it is one of Ephron’s stranger films, the love story between Hurt’s Huey and MacDowell’s Dorothy and Michael’s quest to make people believe in miracles are both rather sweet. Plus, there are some standout musical moments: Travolta delivers an iconic bar dance to Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools,” and MacDowell sings a song all about pie.
6. Julie Julia (2009)
Of course a movie starring Meryl Streep as legendary chef and TV personality Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, a frustrated New Yorker determined to cook all 524 dishes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, is iconic. It’s a joy to hear Streep imitate Julia’s infamous laugh and transatlantic accent and to watch Adams’s Julie find empowerment through trying and failing at Child’s recipes. But perhaps the most memorable scene is Ephron’s take on the ladies-who-lunch trope—Julia’s “dreaded Cobb salad lunch” with her stuffy friend group.
5. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
I’m going to be honest: Sleepless in Seattle has never been one of my favorite Ephron movies. Maybe it’s the fact that Annie’s (Meg Ryan) pursuit of Sam (Tom Hanks) feels stalkerish in this day and age or the fact that the pair don’t meet until the end of the movie, but it didn’t connect with me the way Ephron’s other rom-coms did. Still, certain moments are undeniable: say, Rita Wilson tearfully reciting the plot to An Affair to Remember or Annie’s ability to peel an apple in one long strip like Sam’s late wife.
4. Silkwood (1981)
It’s a crime that this movie isn’t available to stream. Alongside director Mike Nichols, Ephron crafted a powerful biopic of Karen Silkwood, an antinuclear activist. Meryl Streep is a revelation as the complicated, free-spirited titular character, who lives with her boyfriend (Kurt Russell) and her best friend (Cher). As a Cher fan, Silkwood is mandatory viewing; her Dolly, an out lesbian in Oklahoma, was groundbreaking at the time, earning her an Oscar nod for best supporting actress and a Golden Globe. Perhaps without knowing the backstory of Silkwood, the film could sound unappealing, but the casting combined with the onscreen chemistry make Silkwood one of Ephron’s standouts.
3. Heartburn (1986)
Want to get back at your cheating ex? Write an autobiographical novel about it, and then turn it into a screenplay. Heartburn is a fictionalized account of the dissolution of Ephron’s marriage to political reporter Carl Bernstein due to his infidelity. A powerful breakup rom-com, it also has a few of Ephron’s most iconic food scenes: Rachel (Meryl Streep) enjoying a postcoital bowl of carbonara with Mark (Jack Nicholson); Rachel going into labor while hosting friends and reminding them how to cook the lamb in the oven; and Rachel shoving a beautifully constructed Key lime pie in her two-timing husband’s face.
2. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
When Harry Met Sally is a Rob Reiner movie, yes, but from the quick dialogue to Sally’s (Meg Ryan) hyper-specific food orders, it’s permeated with Ephronisms. There’s a reason it’s become the blueprint for so many romantic comedies since: Its central question, about whether men and women can truly be friends, is still compelling. Try to ignore the fact that Harry (Billy Crystal) is a chauvinist and just enjoy the buildup in his relationship with Sally.
1: You’ve Got Mail (1998)
There are so very many things to love about this movie: the emergence of Kathleen carrying a pumpkin and officially launching Meg Ryan fall, Joe (Tom Hanks) and Kathleen’s spat over caviar (it’s a garnish!), the Pride and Prejudice references, and, of course, uptight book editor Patricia Eden (Parker Posey). But I have a soft spot for You’ve Got Mail because it’s the first Nora Ephron movie I ever saw, and I was immediately charmed by its opposites-attract romance, even as Joe tried to ruin Kathleen’s business. To this day, I still get chills every time Joe delivers his “what if” speech-slash-proposal.
