Starting her career as an American journalist, Nora Ephron later dipped her toes into the filmmaking industry. Best known for writing and directing romantic comedies, Ephron received numerous awards. These included a British Academy Film Award, and nominations for three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, a Tony Award, and three Writers Guild of America Awards. So if you enjoy either Nora Ephron’s work or romantic comedies, make sure to add these fourteen Nora Ephron movies to your watchlist.
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14. Hanging Up, STARZ and Hulu (2000)
Our first Nora Ephron movie selection is Hanging Up, focusing on three sisters – Georgia, Eve, and Maddy. The adult sisters each have their own lives, and must take care of their father who has dementia. The catch? Eve is the only daughter who is caring for her dad, while Georgia and Maddy think they are a part but do nothing to help. Eve must juggle her father’s care and her sanity in this entertaining film focused on family.
– IMDb score: 4.8
13. Bewitched, Sling TV and Prime Video (2005)
Both Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell star in Bewitched; a supernatural story about falling in love. Isabel (Kidman) is trying to lead a normal life, even though she is a witch, while Jack (Ferrell) is a charming actor trying to save his career. When Jack tries out for the comedy Bewitched and ends up meeting Isabel, he believes she is the perfect person to be the costar of the series. As they both fall in love, it turns out they can both help each other in ways they never imagined.
– IMDb score: 4.8
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12. Cookie, Apple TV and Vudu (1989)
Crisp one-liners by writers Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen place Cookie at our twelfth spot on the best Nora Ephron movies list. In the film, paroled labor racketeer Dino Capisco is caught in a tough spot when an ambitious prosecutor aims to put him back in prison. Capisco needs an ally, which turns out to be his rebellious daughter Cookie, but it will not be easy getting her to help.
– IMDb score: 5.4
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11. Mixed Nuts, Prime Video and Apple TV (1994)
If you are looking for a group of characters twisted together with love and quirks, make sure to check out Mixed Nuts, a title that aptly fits the scope of this film. The characters? Philip, Catherine, Mrs. Munchnik, Stanley, Louie, Chris, Gracie, and Felix. Everyone is loved except for Mrs. Munchnik, who has not been loved in a very long time, setting the base for a hysterically funny movie.
– IMDb score: 5.4
10. The Super, Peacock and Sling TV (1991)
The roles get changed in our tenth Nora Ephron film titled The Super. Louie is a New York City slum landlord given 120 days to repair one of the apartment blocks. The problem? Louie must live there until the repairs and complete and there is no way his father (the real boss) is paying for any of them. This leaves previously well-off Louie living in squalor, just like all of his tenants.
– IMDb score: 5.7
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9. Michael, Prime Video and Apple TV (1996)
Watch as John Travolta becomes archangel “Michael” in Nora Ephron’s film Michael. Frank and Huey, two reporters are joined by Dorothy Winters, an angel expert, to travel to Iowa and investigate a claim that an older woman lives with a real angel. When they get there though, they realize that Michael is not at all what they expected – drinking beer, smoking, having an active libido, and colorful vocabulary. Michael agrees to travel back to Chicago with the three, but their impending journey will change their lives forever.
– IMDb score: 5.7
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8. This is My Life, Prime Video and Apple TV (1992)
Our eighth selection This is My Life is a balance between comedy and family. Well, not at first. When single mom Dottie inherits some money, she decides to follow her dream to become a comedian by moving herself and her two daughters to New York City. Soon with the help of her agent, Dottie becomes famous and starts traveling around the country. When she travels though, her daughters stay behind and become increasingly lonely.
– IMDb score: 6.0
7. Heartburn, MAX and Hulu (1986)
Heartburn has autobiographical hints at Ephron’s own life after the breakup of her marriage to Carl “All the President’s Men” Bernstein. In the film, Ephron’s character is Rachel Samstat, a food writer who is hesitant to love until meeting Mark Forman, a D.C. columnist, and falling in love. With a house, marriage, and a second child on the way Rachel thinks everything is going great until she finds out Mark has been having an affair.
– IMDb score: 6.1
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6. My Blue Heaven, Apple TV and Vudu (1990)
A mobster decides to trade his dangerous lifestyle for the witness protection program in the film My Blue Heaven. Vinnie Antonelli moves to a small suburb through the program but soon becomes a challenge for FBI agent Barney who is tasked with keeping Vinnie safe. Barney may learn some things from Vinnie though, that is, if Barney can keep him alive long enough to testify against his former associates.
– IMDb score: 6.2
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5. You’ve Got Mail, Prime Video and Apple TV (1998)
Not everyone is as they seem in this romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, who also play in our next film choice. Joe Fox (Hanks) is the owner of a bookstore chain, while Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) is a woman who owns a little bookshop. They fall in love with each other online, not knowing that Kathleen is running the bookshop that Joe’s company is trying to shut down.
– IMDb score: 6.7
4. Sleepless in Seattle, Tubi and Peacock (1993)
Bringing Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan back together is Sleepless in Seattle, our fourth-ranked Nora Ephron movie. After his wife passes Sam (Hanks) moves to Seattle with his son Jonah. Jonah decides to help his father move on by calling into a talk-radio program to find a new wife. Sam grudgingly gets on the line and talks about his feelings, while a reporter in Baltimore Annie (Ryan) listens and falls in love. Annie is engaged, but she still writes a letter to Sam asking him to meet her at the Empire State Building, wondering where it will all lead.
– IMDb score: 6.8
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3. Julie & Julia, Apple TV and Vudu (2009)
In the film Julie & Julia, meet two women separated by time and space, but both carry the passion to prepare delicious French cuisine as our third Nora Ephron choice. In New York, Julie is frustrated with her job and decides to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” As she cooks, the true story of Julia Child interweaves with Julie, as we get to see how Child conquered French cuisine years prior.
– IMDb score: 7.0
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2. Silkwood, Not Currently Streaming (1983)
Dive into the relatively accurate story of Karen Silkwood, an Oklahoma nuclear plant worker who brought to life dangerous practices at the Kerr-McGee plant in the film Silkwood. Karen used to live a free-spirited life with her friends who also worked at an Oklahoma nuclear facility. When she discovers she was exposed to radiation, it leads Karen on a trail of wrongdoing in the company, driving away her friends and possibly putting her in harm’s way.
– IMDb score: 7.1
1. When Harry Met Sally, Tubi and Apple TV (1989) / Nora Ephron Movies
Last but not least on our Nora Ephron movies list is When Harry Met Sally, a well-known romantic comedy starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Harry and Sally meet after they graduate from the University of Chicago, and throughout their lives, they continue to cross paths. When a close friendship forms between the two, they are then confronted with the problem can a man and a woman be friends without sex getting in the way?
– IMDb score: 7.7
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