Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Meyers has been called a "romcom queen" and although all of her films fit this genre she does craft movies that are elevated beyond the generic fare the genre usually churns out. For example, many of her main characters are older, many divorced, and she casts great actors to perform these roles, rather than whoever is the new hot young person who…
Although it is just plain fun to rank a director's movies, it may also help me think about the director's oeuvre of work as a whole. Comparisons can help me to discover elements of film that I am drawn to, what the director finds value in revealing through their movies and possibly how the director has grown artistically.
Meyers has been called a "romcom queen" and although all of her films fit this genre she does craft movies that are elevated beyond the generic fare the genre usually churns out. For example, many of her main characters are older, many divorced, and she casts great actors to perform these roles, rather than whoever is the new hot young person who may not be that formidable of an actor. These people are still beautiful and charming, however, and they bring a much more cautious and realistic view of falling in love rather than the usual generic romcom characters who seem to totally believe in a kind of wide-eyed love or are totally against it.
Charming and cozy could describe all of Meyer's main characters and movies. The romance is still thick, along with the usual romcom story beats, but the characters always stand out as they feel more realistic and lived-in, due in part to the caliber of actors and to the writing and to the wonderful chemistry they always seem to share.
Side-characters are also usually charming, lived-in and important in a Mayers films as well, unlike other romcoms where the protagonists can seem to exist in a vacuum, while evil exes and best friends to confide in feel very manufactured. These side characters are more seamlessly integrated into the story and matter to the central romance because they matter to the individuals within them.
One aspect of a Mayers film that can seem manufactured is how lovely the spaces they inhabit are, the clothes they wear, the food they eat and the lifestyles they live. The characters are often on the affluent side, and the way they live life feels very beautiful, and since most of her protagonists are women this does show how successful and happy a woman can be independent from any man she may be married to or dating.
Other directors I have ranked: JJ Abrams | PT Anderson | Wes Anderson | Judd Apatow | Darren Aronofsky | Ari Aster | Sean Baker | Bong Joon-ho | Jane Campion | Charlie Chaplin | Damien Chazelle | Coen Brothers | Sofia Coppola | Cameron Crowe | Andrew Dominik | Robert Eggers | David Fincher | Alex Garland | Greta Gerwig | Todd Haynes | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu | Jim Jarmusch | Rian Johnson | Spike Jonze | Satoshi Kon | Stanley Kubrick | Sergio Leone | Richard Linklater | George Lucas | David Lynch | Martin McDonagh | Steve McQueen | Sam Mendes | Hayao Miyazaki | Jeff Nichols | Christopher Nolan | Alexander Payne | Sarah Polley | Lynn Ramsay | Céline Sciamma | Ben Stiller | Quentin Tarantino | Andrei Tarkovsky | Taika Waititi | Edgar Wright | Chloé Zhao
