• Directed by Nora Ephron, 1993

This begins with such tenderness and then falls into Looney Tunes-esque capers and silliness. If you want to make a screwball, make a screwball (I love screwballs!) but this hits a strange and uneven tonal balance.

Poor Bill Pullman only exists to be put upon. (Best moment in the movie- Rosie O’Donnell asking, “how’s Wal-ter?”, inflecting that second syllable with pure disgust, the way only a best friend who hates your man can.) I think about the husband in Stella Dallas, who similarly is well-meaning and kind, but being held at arms-length by his wife. Stella Dallas has a clarity of vision towards all its characters, as well as compassion. This movie has the compassion but not the clarity.

The apple peel sums it up for me. We see Meg Ryan peeling an apple into one long curl; some scenes later Tom Hanks mentions that his wife used to do the same thing. But the movement from A to B makes A seem contrived for the sake of B. If he said “my wife used to do this crazy shit with her hair,” I’d have bought it. Wow- they’re made for each other. But instead I just feel the weight of God’s hand. You peel your apples like that because Nora Ephron needs you to.