I think people have brought up, “Who do you think is the Nora Ephron of now?” I don’t know if there’s an answer to that. I don’t think there is one. I think she was very singular in what she did. I think there are other female directors, and especially people of color who are female directors, who are pushing the needle in different ways. As much as Nora is beloved, there were limitations to her work too.
Your book charts the different eras of the rom-com, from screwball comedies in the Golden age to the era of sexual liberation, and then this dormant period before Nora Ephron comes on the scene. What era of the rom-com do you think we’re in right now?
I feel like we’re in the buddy rom-com era. Maybe this is just what’s on my mind today, but I feel like we’ve been seeing a lot of senior buddy rom-coms. They’re hybrid rom-coms, but also movies about female friendships. The Fabulous Four or Poms or Book Club. I think in recent years those have become really fun. But also, beyond that, Someone Great was, I guess you could also say, the breakup rom-com too, which also hearkens back to Nora because Heartburn, you could say, is a breakup rom-com. Someone Great, for instance, that’s such a beautiful breakup rom-com movie, and it’s also a movie about friendship.
Yeah, definitely! What you’re talking about with the buddy rom-com, I think that Do Revenge is also such an interesting addition to that. Even though the two main characters never really are together, it feels very homoerotic. And then Drive Away Dolls is a really good example, too.
Yeah. I haven’t seen Drive Away Dolls yet, but I need to.
You haven’t?
I know! It’s on Peacock. I’m going to watch it.
I saw it in the movie theaters, which actually is a good segue into my next question. I feel like what’s also very different about today is that, with a few exceptions, there aren’t many blockbuster hits that are rom-coms anymore. Do you think that what also made Nora Ephron’s movies so special is the fact that they came out at a time when everyone went to the movies and it was a shared experience?
