You’ve Got Mail. Need I say more? Well, this would be a very brief blog post, so, okay.
Confession: I haven’t read most of her books (although I Feel Bad About My Neck is on my TBR pile) and—gasp—I haven’t actually seen When Harry Met Sally (at time of writing; maybe this’ll change by the time I’ve published this post).
That said, even though I’ve only enjoyed a few of her creations, I’m still writing about her because I love what I’ve read or watched.
To start with, Heartburn (the book, not the movie). It’s the not-quite-autobiographical-but-it-kind-of-is account of a woman who’s seven months pregnant with her second child and who discovers that her husband is having an affair. Obviously, the premise is quite upsetting. You wouldn’t expect to laugh. You wouldn’t expect to end up with some great recipes and cooking tips. And yet…
The foreword is *chef’s kiss*.
Sleepless in Seattle, I mean, you can’t go wrong with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Throw in Rita Wilson, Victor Garber, and Rosie O’Donnell, and you’ve got a heartwarming (and at times heartbreaking) story with a lot of sweetness.
And (yes, I’m skipping ahead) the fact that You’ve Got Mail has the same main actors and yet has an entirely different tone, characterization, and doesn’t feel like the same, well, that’s some pretty good writing and directing right there, isn’t it?
Also, in Ted Lasso, the title character says that Sleepless in Seattle is the far superior film, but I would disagree with him. Still, excellent scene in an excellent show about two excellent movies.
It wasn’t all about rom-coms with Nora, though. Michael, Hanging Up, Lucky Numbers, and Julie & Julia all portray different types of relationships (sure, one’s an angel, but the other characters in the movie are people). Plus, plays. Which I never saw. But, again, versatility! Scriptwriting isn’t the same as writing a novel, and movies and plays are also very, very different—yet she succeeded in all of them!
And while you may not have seen or read all of her productions, you’re aware of what she’s done. From a very satisfying stop at the world famous Katz’s Delicatessen to a Meg Ryan voiceover recounting how happy she is from hearing three little words, including John Travolta dancing (not disco but to “Chain Of Fools”), and Meryl Streep becoming Julia Child (with, of course, an Oscar nomination), there’s plenty that Nora Ephron has done.
You’ve Got Mail is my comfort movie, and I could spend another post explaining why. Instead, I’ll just nudge you in the right direction and tell you to go watch it.
