The Big Picture - The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 23, ‘Something’s Gotta Give’

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Sean and Amanda return to continue their yearlong project of listing the 25 best movies of the 21st century so far. They discuss Nancy Meyers’s ‘Something’s Gotta Give,’ the 2003 romantic comedy starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, which featured some of the most realized and developed characters of the century. They highlight and celebrate Meyers’s auteurist vision, argue why it’s the last great studio romantic comedy, and remember one of Jack Nicholson’s final performances that featured an incredible balance of his powerful charisma and uglier, stranger side. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Shop online at majore.com or in store today. I'm Sean Fennesey. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is 25 for 25, a big picture special conversation show about a little ditty about Jack and Diane. That's right. It's Nancy Meyer's time and our pick is what, Amanda? Something's got to give.

Something's got to give. Okay. I had a very high usage rate on Monday's episode of this podcast and so it is time for Jesus to take the wheel. Jesus, Amanda, this is a huge moment here for you. We're citing 25 perfect movies from this century. This is the Nancy Meyers choice. This is the Nancy Meyers choice. And I think this is also the romantic comedy choice. I, well, that's a bit of a spoiler alert, but yes. Well, I mean, you never know. I've been wondering if we should be citing like, this is the last time you'll see this person or

this kind of movie as we go down the list. That would require like doing a lot of spreadsheet work, I suppose. And that would also require being fixed to our picks, which... Ladies and gentlemen, we've gone off script for the first time. We have. We weren't sure. We weren't sure.

We weren't sure about what was originally in 20... in the 23 spot. We were sure about something's got to give. Yes. This was never not going to be on the list. Right. It did get bumped down a spot, was originally in the 23 spot. We were sure about something's got to give. Yes, this was never not going to be on the list. Right, it did get bumped down a spot, but that's okay. Not really a qualitative choice. Yeah, I'm not really, I'm not that worried

about the difference between 23 and 22. So this is the Nancy Meyers movie. This to me is the only Nancy Meyers movie that would be eligible for the list. I personally have a very strong affection for The Intern. I know you like it, but don't love it in the same way that I do. I think this is ultimately better.

I mean, this is better. This, I mean, and this is also in the Nancy Meyers arc. This is the movie that catapults her, that kind of solidifies what it means to be a Nancy Meyers movie. The Intern's very good. Obviously, stars your Anne Hathaway, your beloved, beloved Anne Hathaway.

Yes, and my Robert De Niro. My beloved, beloved Robert De Niro. Sure, who's just like bumbling around and is like, I'm an intern. And then like... You've just summed up the film. Falls in love with the masseuse. Played by Renee Russo.

I know. Which is... Yeah Played by Renee Russo. I know. Which is rude to Renee Russo, respectfully. It's good. I do also like that The Intern is basically like a sequel to Baby Boom, which is a 80s movie written by Nancy Meyers, directed by her then husband Charles Shire, also starring Diane Keaton.

I like it, but it's... this is a self-contained masterpiece. So this movie, like Baby Boom, like The Intern does circle this idea that we make a lot of hay of on the show, which is can women have it all? Yeah. You know, not just what do women want, which is a question that she asked a few films prior to this, but can women have a career? Personal and private success, wealth, a family, and love. And life experience.

Can they be over 50 years old? And sex. And sex. Yeah. All of those things. This movie maybe most acutely zeroes in on life after 50 for a woman. Now I will make the case perhaps unsurprisingly that this is one of the most sophisticated movies about life after 50 for a man. And I'd like to explore with you, but I don't want that to be the primary driver of the conversation.

I think that's true. And that is what is why this movie makes the list and the others don't, is because all of the characters, well, at least the main two, Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, are fully realized. They are also played by Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. And just two lights out performances. You have Hollywood icons in their later stages of life just really getting to be those people. So I agree with you. Then you have Keanu Reeves in a supporting role, which just takes my breath away every single time. Yes. I have some thoughts about his character who I will call Keanu Ex Machina for the remainder of this podcast. Yeah, of course. But that's important, you know? It is.

And the classic, who's she gonna choose, who's better for her set up. The Ralph Bellamy of the family. Yeah, exactly. Or the Aidan, if you will. Sure. Yeah, a contemporaneous reference. Got it, got it. So, got it. So I agree.

It's really good about Jack Nicholson's character. It's Keanu and Amanda Peet's character, Marin, and Frances McDormand's character are less baked, but it is also Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet, and Frances McDormand. Absolutely. Three-time Oscar winner. Tremendous screen presences, all three of them. Just there to give, you know, like, vague academic dissertations about the woman's experience. Special stuff.

Um, yeah, I think this movie is so successful because it feels so closely modeled on a strong personal point of view. Was this movie made after she and Shire broke up? I believe so. So, I mean, it feels like a real post-divorce movie, a real kind of second half of my life, who am I and what was my life about. I think also, you know, you mentioned Keaton and Nicholson's performances.

I think it's that perfect meeting of performance and persona, that they both have these incredibly strong screen personas. Jack has this kind of loose, you know, flandering, you know, eternally young man-child, you know, like that's something that we think of when we see him kind of making mischief at the Academy Awards or, you know, being a maniac in movies. And Diane Keaton, of course, is this kind of like anxious, brilliant, kind of eccentric pop, Fizz pop personality who like could break at any moment, but also could like sweep you off your feet at any moment, you know, kind of riffing on Annie Hall

and everything that she embodied in that movie. And they're not like changing it. They're embracing it, making it work at a different phase of their life. It's also notable that, you know, for Nicholson, this is his first movie after about Schmidt, which was kind of like his rejection of the Jack persona. Right. And you can feel him like jacking very hard in this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And Diane Keaton, you know, in the two, she has First Wives Club, which is this huge success in the mid-90s. And then what was her career really like in the late 90s and early 2000s? She works with Shire and Myers in Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride 2. Right. Playing the number two though, really, to Steve Martin. Yes, absolutely. But well, that's not fair. She's one of the two pregnant people in Father of the Bride part 2. That's true. You're right. She has a bigger role in it. She does the iconic workout scene with Martin Short,

which is all I could think about throughout two pregnancies. That's true. OK. That was all you could think about? Anytime I tried to do a workout, I was just like, I didn't look as good as those people. Speaking of, you know, pregnant women or non-pregnant women just wearing bumps.

Did we explore on our Nancy Meyers episode how old she was when she was pregnant with that child? Do we know? Uh, so I think she's, she's probably like mid forties because there's a crucial part of Father of the Bride, the original, when, you know, when he's having the, he's imagining that it's the tiny little Annie telling him he's getting married. You know, dad, I'm getting married. And it's like Diane Keaton says that she was this old.

She was 22 when she had the, um... Right. Right, that made her much younger. Exactly, so she could be like 45, 46. It's possible. I mean, in the late 90s, at this stage of her career, it's really interesting. Because Father of the Bride Part II is 95. That's a big hit.

Obviously, the Father of the Bride movie was a big hit. First Wives Club is massive. And she's in Marvin's Room, which is kind of like an Oscar bid with Leo and De Niro and really a hallowed cast, but not really a big success. Yeah. Meryl Streep's in that too, right? Marvin's Room?

I believe she is. I think so. Yeah, she is. On the poster, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, basically hugging Leo. In 1987, she's in a movie called The Only Thrill, which is directed by Peter Masterson. And then does make a movie for three years,

makes The Other Sister, and then she directs Hanging Up, which is written by Nora and Delia Efron. Right. Then Town and Country in 2001, famous bomb. And I'll come back to the importance of Town and Country momentarily. Saw both of those in the theaters, by the way. Town and Country should have been amazing. Yeah. Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Andy McDowell, and Gary Shanling from a script by Buck Henry.

It's a terrible movie. Yeah, things just don't work out. But, and then a few years go by until something's got to give. She's in a huge down period in her career, probably the downest that her career has ever been on this like basically seven year stretch since First Wives Club. Not that she's not making interesting movies, but not a box office star. Right. This movie is huge though.

Like how big was, how successful was something's gotta give? It made $124 million domestic, which is for a romantic comedy starring two people over 50, where like menopause is a punchline. Like not unlike, we're not making fun of menopause, they're making fun of birth control. And in 2003, and this movie makes $124 million domestically, even more, so it's, I think it's 265 worldwide.

Crazy. It's like a classic December holiday release, like go take your whole family to go see the movie written and directed by a woman about a neurotic over-50s playwright wearing turtlenecks and people just ate it up. What a time. So we always ask a couple of questions when we're doing this. So why did Something's Gotta Give make the list aside from there needing to be a Nancy Myers movie on the list because of how much we appreciate her on the show.

Right. Well, of the Nancy Meyers movies, I think it's the most important. As we just mentioned, it was absolutely like a phenomenon. And What Women Want, which was released in 2000, also made a lot of money, over a hundred million domestic. But this kind of sets up the rest of the Nancy Meyers trajectory. This is why like all you degenerates have the holiday. This is why we have, It's Complicated,

which is basically this movie made with different Oscar winning actors. I love, It's Complicated. We talked about it. I like it too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's more flawed. This is the breakthrough.

This I think is also so influential in terms of, I guess, romantic comedies or frankly garbage women of movies about women of a certain age trying to have it all in life, both thematically and just visually. The actual, the language of the kitchens and the overstuffed couches and the hydrangeas that are usually blue,

and the expensive prepared food stores, and everything that we now do, I think much to Nancy Meyers' chagrin, identify as Nancy Meyers' core, is genuinely an auteurist cinematic vision. It is so specific and so many people have failed to recreate it is genuinely like an auteurist cinematic vision. It is so specific and so many people have failed to recreate it or tried to make a lot of money off of it.

I'm like looking at you, Crate and Barrel. Like it is truly influential. I completely agree. I mean, it is visually thematically recurring. That is a key part of the auteur theory is that you are telling a certain kind of story or a certain kind of visual approach with a strong authorship on your stories and the story types. And she does it.

I mean, you wrote here something very dramatic. OK. Which is the last great studio romantic comedy. Well, you know. This is a very strong statement. It's been 22 years since this movie came out. I got a hook on. But so, and I wrote with apologies too,

and this is some real 25 for 25 spoilers here. So here are some movies that didn't make our list. Bridget Jones's Diary, Yes It Hurts Me Too, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 13 Going on 30, 27 Dresses, The Wedding Planner, The Proposal, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and the four other Nancy Meyers movies released in the last 25 years.

I think that Something's got again transcends all, give transcends all of those. I think that you're right. Okay. I think the thing that when I watched this movie, it is very clearly born of the 30s and 40s screwball style. It's just shifting the cast to people in their 50s and 60s and not in their late 20s and early 30s.

It uses a lot of the similar framework that you would find in Philadelphia story or in bringing a baby or in His Girl Friday or in all of those classics. We know Nancy Meyers has a huge admiration for those movies and is kind of like echoing them throughout her career. I think because of that, it works really well as homage and really well as also a contemporary story.

Jack Nicholson's character is a hip-hop label owner. Um, Diane Keaton is a... an aging playwright, of some renown. You know, the Hamptons' home, or is it the Hamptons? The Hamptons. The Hamptons' home feels very early off to me. It's sort of like before the Hamptons got completely out of control and was still like a wealthy person's enclave.

Yes, the address is given as Sagaponack. The exteriors were shot in a home in Southampton. The interiors were all designed. They're all sets. By her. Well, yes, by Beth Rubino, who's the set decorator, but Nancy oversees everything. She yeses every fabric.

OK, so one of the things that I like about this movie is... Who's the set decorator, but Nancy, you know, oversees everything. She yeses every fabric. Okay. So one of the things that I like about this movie is it is, I don't even know if it's a, it is clearly a witting, but I don't know if it's a communicated love letter slash indictment of Warren Beatty. Yeah. Diane Keaton worked with Warren Beatty two years prior in Town and Country. Nancy Myers, of course, is familiar with Warren Beatty and admires his work. And the Jack Nicholson character seems like Jack.

Yeah. But is in fact Warren. Almost literally Warren. The women that are cited as the famous people that the Jack Nicholson character dated or may have dated in the past. Right. Joan Collins, Diane Sawyer, former paramours of Warren Beatty, the lifelong bachelor, the escape artist as he's called in the movie is very clearly modeled on and the story is clearly modeled on Annette Benning,

kind of like a successful artist in her own right, taming the Warren Beatty figure in the world. The fun part about this is that Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty are like best friends. So this is like if I made a movie about Chris, where I played Chris, which obviously we all know would be impossible, but if that were to happen and I was exploring all the Chrisisms

and how Chris became Chris and how Chris was tamed, would you want to see that movie? Yeah, of course. She does this a lot. She loves old Hollywood. Irreconcilable Differences, which is the hardest to see of the Nancy Meyers movie, is just the Peter Bogdanovich, Polly Platt breakup, but with ridiculous performances and also Drew Perrymore as a child suing for divorce, which then happened later for, like, what's it called? Emancipation. Emancipation, right? Child divorce from your parents,

which she then later pursued. Which she does in real life, yeah. So they're, you know, Nancy Meyers has a spidey sense. She knows what's going on in the world, and she likes to put it into her movies, including also, by the way, the Erika Berry character, which is just Nancy Meyers written into, she's a playwright instead of a filmmaker.

Do you think this movie is saying that Nancy Meyers wants to marry Warren Beatty? No, I don't. I think this movie is saying that Nancy Meyers did a lot of work after divorcing or her husband and co-writer and director and really likes, you know, nice overstuffed couches and is trying to figure out how to be less uptight and open herself up to life.

I feel like this is a movie that could only happen in this specific period of time, which is one thing that I like about it. I think that the figure of, like, the old man dating the young woman, is culturally now... would be perceived as more of a creep fest. And in this movie, the idea of like, oh, yeah, you dated my daughter, and oh, you didn't sleep with her, but it's okay,

even though she's like literally a stride him in the first 10 minutes of the movie. It's just one of those like could not have happened at any time after it. And so it's in a way kind of like a last remnant of this era of Hollywood. You know, where like, wasn't it cool that Warren Beatty was bagging every chick in Hollywood until 1998 or whatever

and he decided to settle down and have children. Yeah. I mean, I think it's still happening. It's definitely still happening. Yeah, you wouldn't get the same New York magazine piece called The Escape Artist about the person. It wouldn't be like, isn't this cute how he decided to date a woman who's within 12 years of his age. Right. You do, however, get plenty of Erika Barrys dating the local Hampton's doctor. So this, you know, the woman of a certain age dating a handsome

younger man who is just like really, really hot for her and she doesn't understand it is now very, very common and perhaps overdone in... You think she invented this trick. I don't think she invented it. It seems close. But it is, you see it everywhere. Yeah. It's a major, major part of the garbage women canon.

And it, this is a really powerful one because like every time I watch it, I'm like, oh, should she choose Keanu? I want to get to that. Yeah. That's something I'd like to explore with you. I think that this movie, forgive me for this, but kind of pre-Sages, like, uh, it's a twist on the milf thing, which really took off post-American Pie, which is 1999, but the, like, young man hot for older woman who's still a babe and still looks like Diane Keaton.

You know, Diane Keaton famously has a nude scene in this movie, as does kind of sort of Jack Nicholson who shows his ass. Yeah, I think it's, well, I think it's a double, but that's okay. You think Jack is a double or Diane Keaton? No, I think Diane is, but that's okay. There's some cutting when I was watching at this time, but listen, no judgment. Were you freeze framing? No, I was just, I was watching the camera work as I do.

I see, as you do. Yeah. Yes, you're well known to watch the camera work. Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that. I thought that that was- I could be wrong. I mean, you definitely see her in a, like, in bra and underwear, like, undressed. But I think, like, that moment, it seems like there's a little bit of cutting in someone with a wig. I could be wrong. The movie has just a great relationship to sex. Like, it's very... I've seen the movie get derided as sitcom-y at times, but I feel like sitcoms

are not, can't get into this area, can't get into the lane of like this epiphanic physical experience that an older woman is having. You never see stuff like that on TV. And also, that it is like unusually physical for a movie like this. It's the one thing that all those 30s and 40s movies are all allusions to these kinds of acts. But like, he's literally going down on her. They're literally in bed together.

And it is way more normalized then than it would be now. Like I'm trying to think, has there been a movie with like two 50-somethings in bed together in recent years? Even we were just talking about Black Bag recently on the show. There's something kind of like steamy but chaste about the relationship in Black Bag. Right, right, right.

I'm trying to think, even in, even in Something's Gotta Give, they are playing it for comedy. You know, there is, there is the great moment where they have to stop at the beginning of the sex scene in order to check his blood pressure. And then instead of like a bra being thrown in the air,

you get the shot of like the, what's it, what is the thing called? The strap, the blood pressure strap. Yeah, the strap from the blood pressure strap, like being thrown. So they are, they're making hay of it. And there is something about the fact like, oh, like winking, oh, ho, ho.

Like we're watching two 50 year olds have sex that tips it towards comedy rather than steaminess. You know, but they do make a joke about menopause. They do, you know, it's, they are undressed for a lot of the movie. Where are you at on Menopause these days? I'm not there, which I'm really happy to share with everyone. That's great.

So that's- In general, what do you make of it? You know, it seems like with everything that happens to women, there's not enough medical research and support directed that way. But maybe by the time I get there, you know? How do you feel about the meta aspect of the story, where Erika Barry, who is a thinly veiled version of a Nancy Meyers figure is literally thinly veiling her life and her experiences in a play,

in the movie that she's making. Now, normally I find when I see things like this in movies and I like them, you're like, why are you such a- Oh no, I like meta stuff. Multi-layered grow. No, of course that it's, she's commenting on who she is. I like this as autobiography, and I think some of what elevates it from a sitcom

and also from your classic, you know, like goofy rom-com is this very experienced and also very anxious person very experienced and also very anxious person investigating her life and how she is in the world and what she does and the consequences of what she does in real time with like a multi-million dollar budget. And I like that it still has a sense of humor about it. You know, this movie does have like a lot of speeches and as you said, characters realizing things. It's not therapy speak.

Like we haven't gotten there in the world where everyone just has to be like talking to each other about like their trauma and whatever boundaries and healing. They speak like people, intelligent people who are trying to figure things out about themselves, but still sort of almost in that like playwriting, human mode, it's like it's a human way of communicating. So I like that, but I like that you can also tell

she's really thought about it and she's thought about, you know, her relationship to her work and she's thought about why she dresses the way she does. Like, the turtlenecks as a motif is... And it's in the text, like, they explain it for you, but it still is very clever. There's that throwaway line when they're in the kitchen, and she's talking about how she's always wanted to write a play that ends in Paris.

Just like, because people need romance, and if I don't write it, where are they gonna get it? Real life. And that's obviously like Nancy Meyers communicating as well, but it's true and it's nice. And then the movie does end in Paris and also, because it's 2003, it actually ends in Paris. So that's also wonderful and remnant of a time where they just sent movie stars to Paris to film on the streets at night. Okay, let's talk about the film's legacy. You've already mentioned that the movie has... has earned a great debt from Creighton Barrell and...

J. Crew. Coastal Grandma Sheik. I mean, that was a TikTok thing. Were you familiar with that? I was not. I'm not on TikTok, as you know. I'm not either, but then they posted it to Reels for all the old people. So we appreciate you. Yeah, so, you know, people, young women wearing just the cream-colored sweaters, the bucket hats, but like a direct visual reference to those beach walks.

Do you think you'll age into that chic? Um, I mean, I definitely already wear a lot of white jeans, you know, or like cream-colored pants. I do have a bucket hat, but I don't know if I'm gonna go monochrome cream with the bucket hat. That's probably not where I am. You have a bucket hat? Mm-hmm. It's pink.

Like Tony Yayo. And, yeah, and my son has a matching one. And we wear it at the beach. Schoolboy Q, also known to wear a bucket hat. Yeah. So yeah, and my son has a matching one. Schoolboy Q. And we wear it at the beach. Also known to wear a bucket hat. Yeah. I only know rappers who wear bucket hats. Okay.

Well, they had a moment like a few years ago. I don't think that I'll be going this way. I'm more of a Navy than Korean. Diane Keene wears a bucket hat in this film? I honestly think she wears more than one. I think that there are distinct bucket hats, but yes, she does. I'll tell you something. Um... The other 2003 thing about this movie that is related to bucket hats

is the use of Crazy Town's Butterfly. The movie opens with Crazy Town Butterfly. And then like a lot, uh, just a montage of very 2003 looking women, like striding into clubs, bars, restaurants, hailing cabs, looking like very... Just off frame in that montage is me in before them. Yeah. Little known fact.

Did she know what she was doing when she dropped Crazy Town in this movie? No, absolutely not. She didn't know that this would be an incredible meme? No, I don't think so. And I like wonder if she still does. I have some concerns about her relationship to hip hop in general. Yeah, it's not great.

I would not say that the parties portrayed, even fleetingly, are culturally sensitive. Mm-hmm. Um, and, you know, Diane Keaton gives that speech in the fake Barefoot Contessa store. Do you know also that that's, like, it's not the Barefoot Contessa store, but you know that the Barefoot Contessa store. Do you know also that that's like, it's not the Barefoot Contessa store, but you know that the Barefoot Contessa started as a prepared food store in the Hamptons.

And then she started writing cookbooks. That's Ina Garten. Yes. I did not know it started as a store. Yes. So I think that- That store still exists or no? I think she sold it at some point. I see. Okay. Or no, I don't- But it was inspired by.

Yeah. That's the vibe that we're going for. And Ina Garten also an icon in your life. Yes, and a Hamptons icon, just to keep you on the level here. Okay, understood. Anyway, she gives a speech there about how she's not really into rap music. That is not... How many words can you rhyme with bitch, I believe, is the line of dialogue. I would not say it's the most enlightened.

Not my favorite part of the movie. Yeah. I think that she has a knack for characterization that looks easy but is really hard. Yeah. Setting aside the hip hop line, in general, the Erika Berry character presents as pretty modern. I think when the movie starts and Jack is in the kitchen, in the refrigerator, and Frances McDormand and Diane Keaton come home and we see his feet underneath the refrigerator, and she thinks that there's an intruder in the house, and then we quickly learn that it's her daughter's boyfriend.

You think that the engine of the movie is gonna be how unacceptable it is that her crazy daughter keeps dating older men. Right. And she's kind of cool with it. Yeah. She's like, not my first choice, but it's OK. Yeah, it's like a, it's a 911 punchline.

It's like a, she's like, it's worse. She's dating my, he's dating my daughter. And then they hang up. Yeah. Which I find to be refreshing. Like, it doesn't like lean on the obvious ticks of the structure. I mean, maybe she just has some experience in this mold. I don't know. No, it ultimately just becomes aics of the structure. I mean, maybe she's just had some experience in this mold.

I don't know. No, it ultimately just becomes a problem about the air. It's a, the Erica Barry character makes it about her, which is fine because like the movie's about her. Um, but it's, it is a little bit narcissistic also from a different bandage point, it's like, well, she doesn't really seem that worried about her daughter. She's just kind of like, well, this is, what does it say about me? That I'm home at night, you know?

I hadn't thought about that, but that's a really good point. I don't know. Sometimes when you're a filmmaker or writer, you gotta write what you know. You gotta bring it back to you. But that's OK. I like that. I think that the other tricky legacy of this movie

is that what you said earlier, which is that a lot of people thought they could do this. Yeah. And so there is like a kind of high grade imitation that a lot of great filmmakers this century have that. You know, like Michael Bay has the Michael Bay imitators in the 2000s where you've got a lot of guys who are trying to make action movies that look like Michael Bay movies. All Michael Bay movies are stupid, but they're wonderfully stupid.

Most of the other movies are just stupid, stupid. What is the legacy in that respect of the Nancy Meyers ripoffs? Well, I mean, as with all other things, it's frustrating because everyone thinks that they can do it, and they also think they can do it for less money and with less talent. And so then you get imitators and you get things that are not as well-written or not as thoughtful or not as idiosyncratic for it. Like, I mean, this is both, you know, like a very broad comedy with like a great punch line

about the back of a hotel, of a hospital gown, you know, and Jack Nicholson's butt hanging out, which I thought about every single time I had to wear those in the last 10 years. And... And not a butt double for Jack, you don't think? No, but then they have all of the... The fake butts.

The dancing Jacks. The dense, which is just really funny. It's a great bit. And again, like the movie is filled with those little moments, whether it's like you're a woman to love and the dancing Henrys or the performances that are just like... Francis McDormand has won three Oscars, you know? And she's just like at the farmer's market, like ogling Keanu Reeves, because it's funny. So there's a quality here in the writing, in the filmmaking,

certainly in the production design and the, and the visuals aspect of a film that I often think gets taken for granted. Then people are just like, well, we'll just like get a white couch and, you know, hire some like people we saw on TV once and they like, they can fall in love and like think you can compete with something's got to give. And so you just get the lesser versions and they're lesser in quality. They're lesser in writing. They are definitely the budgets just get much smaller to the point that Nancy Meyers did not get to make her most recent movie because these things do actually cost money.

Yes. And just the budgets have been totally shifted. So that's a real shame. I can tell the difference and most people can. And I'll still watch the garbage stuff but I don't like we have garbage women. That's because people are trying to do this. This is not garbage women. This is excellence. This is one of the very last Jack Nicholson performances. Yeah.

He, after this film, a few years go by and he makes the Departed in 2006, legendary movie in many ways, the bucket list in 2007, and How Do You Know in 2010. I would argue that's a James L. Brooks film, the most recent James L. Brooks film, until this fall when L. M. & K. comes out. And I believe L. M. & K. is the first James L. Brooks movie

not to star Jack Nicholson in some time. Because he appeared in How Do You Know? He appeared in As Good As It Gets. He appeared in Broadcast News. He appeared in Terms You Know? He appeared in As Good As It Gets. He appeared in Broadcast News. He appeared in Terms of Endearment. What am I forgetting? What's the one with Julie Kavanaugh? That's the one I'm forgetting that he's not in.

Anyway, this is a fascinating use of his screen persona. You forgot Spanglish. Spanglish? Is he in Spanglish? He's not in Spanglish. No, he's not in Spanglish. I forgot Spanglish because I really, really don't like Spanglish? He's not in Spanglish. No, he's not in Spanglish. I forgot Spanglish because I really, really don't like Spanglish. And I love James L. Brooks, so it pains me. And I love Adam Sandler, and it really pains me that I don't like Spanglish.

Anyway, he's at the end of his career here. Yeah. You know, this is not, and he's, this is really also a movie about his mortality. He has multiple heart attacks in this movie. He's literally on a gurney like four times. He, near the end of the movie, needs to leave the country and go find a way to get free from his own anxieties so that he can get in better health. Multiple Viagra jokes.

He's trying very hard to stay sexually active into his 60s. Seems challenging, at least for this character. I'll report back in 20 years. And it's a really fascinating use of him. And his, like, I think his willingness to be a buffoon who's still like a representation of greatness. You know what I mean? Like he has this ability to be so ugly and strange

and silly and disgusting and still maintain this like essential jack power that the reason that the movie ultimately works is it's beautifully written and the production design is great and all the things you're saying are all true. But it's leveraging 35 years of movie history in the two stars against each other to elevate it, to raise it. And so if you keep copying movies like this, but you don't use people who have this, you don't have this great movie.

I mean, even Nancy Meyers tries with It's Complicated, which is Meryl Streep, three time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. She's won three, right? Yes. three time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. She's won three, right? Yes. Yeah. And, and this time she lives in Santa Barbara and she, instead of being a playwright, she like, she runs the prepared food store.

She's basically, she owns Dean and DeLuca and then she's trying to decide between her ex-husband and Steve Martin, the architect. And, but there you have Meryl Streep and you have two, well Steve Martin, one of the greatest comedic performers and Alec Baldwin who's like a really good third guy in movies. I mean, he's great. We love Alec Baldwin, but he's not Jack Nicholson. I think he's among the best parts of the movie. It's weird though, but he's playing the Jack part.

Yeah. One of the things that's complicated, which I think is really good and I'm a huge Steve Martin fan, is he's just not that sexy. You know what I mean? Like there's not, it doesn't have the same heat. This movie like has a legitimate heat between these two characters. You really want to see them end up together. You know, my one, like, gentle demerit on the movie

is, like, Keanu is incredibly handsome. I don't do it. But the character is like... But it's funny, that's the point. Okay, but like, this guy goes all the way to Paris. He's got the ring. Yeah. And they just don't open it in front of, yeah. Like, this guy goes all the way to Paris, he's got the ring. Yeah.

He's like ready to- And they don't open it in front of, yeah. But he's like ready to turn his life over to this lady who he's infatuated with. He turns his life over several times. Like, she stands him up. Right, right. She stands him up because Amanda P

just does not have her shit together. No. But that is a funny character. No, but that seems real. Yeah, that seems real. I would hate to be Nancy's daughter in that situation. And then he's just gone until Francis McDormand spots him at the farm stand, like you do.

Yep. And he brings the flowers back and he says, these are for you to give to me to apologize. Great line, really good. And then she writes a whole play, like probably a Tony winning play, about how Jack's character broke her heart. And he's sitting there in the couch being like, this is the best thing you've ever written. So he clearly knows what's going on. And then after being like, this is the best thing you've ever written is like,

okay, now let's have sex again. So he just, he has no value system besides thinking she's the hottest person in the world, and also, like, being a single doctor in the Hamptons. Uh-huh. He's not a real person. It's totally... Yeah, of course, that's the point. He's a single... John Wick is a wonderful doctor in the Hamptons...

Yeah. ...with no reconstructive knee surgery or bullet holes to speak of. Yes! And he's obsessed with a woman who's 15 to 20 years older than him. And when they get to Paris and he's getting ready to close the deal for good forever, eternal happiness for him until she dies, he gets one look at a flirty conversation

with a sad old guy who flew to Paris alone, and he's like, you know what, I gotta throw in the towel. Actually, it's not about me. This isn't about me. I agree that it's totally off screen. Sir, what? Off screen? You decided that?

I mean, I agree. I agree that he gives up too soon. Put up a fight, dog. It's so powerful every time he shows up that I'm like, oh, are we sure she shouldn't just pick him? And like, Jack is so powerful. But that scene was so powerful. I mean, I agree.

I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. up too soon. And it's so powerful every time he shows up, that I'm like, oh, are we sure she shouldn't just pick him? And like, Jack is so powerful. But that scene with the three of them in the, like in the waiting room, no, no, no, in the waiting room, when you first meet Keanu and it's like Amanda P to Francis McDormand to Diane Keaton,

and they're all just like, making the, that's purposeful that he is like too good to be true. Like he's just a made up and the reaction shots and how into him they all are is very funny. I love him as a screen presence throughout the movie. I think his performance is really good. Keanu has gone a hard time over the years for not being a good actor.

I think he's really good at this kind of light comedy. Really, really funny. I just, the character off screen being like, my bad, you guys should figure this out, is like a lot. That's a lot to accept at the end of the movie. This is a wonderful movie. I really wish that there were more movies like this. I wish that movie stardom was more about this.

I think that's something that we obsess over a little bit on the show, which is using your powers for good. Using your powers to make entertainments that are high level, but not defined by what it is that they're adapting or event ization that it's very, this is a movie about writer director and the two movie stars and their ability to connect on screen and how much you love them. Also, we neglected to cite that, you know, while Town and Country was the Diane Keaton reunion with Warren Beatty, this is

the first time I think that Jack and Diane Keaton are on screen together since Reds. If people haven't seen Reds, one of my single favorite scenes in movie history is between Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, who plays Eugene O'Neill in the film, when they are sort of breaking up, when they are realizing that they're not going to be able to be together and that John Reed is actually the man that she is meant to be with. And it's this, you know, really like emotionally complicated sequence about why two people can't be together, which is sort of what this movie is about until it isn't. And so the tone of Reds is completely different from something's got to give, but just like the arc of a career

and people really knowing each other and being able to be on screen together and have that thing that these two people have, it starts all the way back in 1980, well before Nancy Myers is even a filmmaker at that point, really. She's still just a writer at that stage of her career. So just a pocket recommendation. Yeah, listen, whatever we got to do to get you on board. If it's Reds, something's got to give. I mean, I always liked this movie. I saw this movie in theaters. I always liked it. I think this was what we ranked number one when we did. Did we do a rankings for her when

we did the Nancy Meyers episode? I think so, yes. Or did we do Hall of Fame? I don't know. This is it. This is the one. You think over the parent trap? I do.

And absolutely over the holiday, which like, if you are mad because this made it in instead of the holiday, like go get a life and go learn something about cinema. The holiday is the best extended 14 hour mini series of that year, yeah. It's the longest movie ever made. It's Kieślowski's, the decalogue.

It's fine. It is nowhere near the quality of this movie. What would you recommend if you like this movie? Annie Hall, obviously. Heartburn for some dastardly Jack. But also, you know, that movie is written by Nora Ephron. The next movie on my list is You've Got Mail, which was also written and directed by Nora Ephron.

I had forgotten how much email was a part of this story. Exactly, but like, well, excuse me, AIM Instant Messenger. Excuse me, Instant Messenger. written and directed by Nora Ephron. I had forgotten how much email was a part of this story. Yes, exactly. But like, well, excuse me, AIM Instant Messenger. Excuse me, Instant Messenger. Yes, which is also an important part of You've Got Mail. And even the sort of like, the way you're thinking before you type the response. It's all been replaced by texting in films.

Right, exactly. And the three, the ellipsis. But I do also think, you know, we don't have a Nora Ephron movie on this list. I'm really sorry because all the great ones came out before 2000. Those are lucky numbers in Nora Ephron movie. I think Julia and Julia, Julia and Julia was eligible, but only half of that movie really works for me. So, but there is, you know, kind of like a, there was a time when Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers

were writing and directing actually like great, big budget studio romantic comedies. And so if you like the Nora Ephron entrance, like this will speak to you as well. Broadcast news, we already mentioned, but you know, there's the James L. Brooks overlap and the Jack Nicholson overlap. And then if you are one of those people that's like,

oh, I love the holidays so much and you've never seen this movie somehow, please check it out. Okay, are there any other classics that you would recommend? Because I do feel like this is- I mean, I thought about Philadelphia story for the same reason of the three and the,

and a nice house, you know? Does that mean that Keanu is the Cary Grant in the movie? I don't think so. Keanu is the Jimmy Stewart? That's what I would think. I guess he's the man who comes to town. Yeah, exactly. All right.

It's a wonderful movie. Yeah. Cary Peck, you feel like it's too low? No, I think it's good. Okay. I feel like, you know, you were very stressed out about like four versus six versus seven versus 12. And I think that this is-

What do you mean? When we were making the list, like the number by number seemed very stressed to you. And I'm kind of like, this is the 20 to 25 bucket. I also, you know, we're bringing people in. At 25 through 20, we want to surprise people. We want to get as wide a range of audiences as possible. Before going more chock?

No, I just, you know, it's important to really get people's attention with the first few picks. And this will get people's attention because people like it. And maybe people who have not been that interested in the project thus far, you know, maybe we'll find a new audience. Um, sure.

OK. The best thing about this project is that it's evergreen. So many of the shows that we make are like, oh my god, a Minecraft movie? Made $300 million? And then that is the dumbest podcast of all time, like eight days later. This is something you can return to

if you want to watch something's got to give. Uh, thanks to our producer, Jack Sanders. Later this week, we'll be previewing the Cannes Film Festival and the lineup there, you can return to if you want to watch Something's Gotta Give. Thanks to our producer Jack Sanders. Later this week we'll be previewing the Cannes Film Festival and the lineup there, which Amanda will not be attending because she's a coward. And Chris Ryan and I will discuss Thanks for watching!