The Big Picture · Discussion

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

April 9, 2025/ 44 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins

Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins put Nancy Meyers's Something's Gotta Give at No. 23, the one spot on their 25-for-25 list where they went off script. They call it the last great studio romantic comedy and walk through why: the Keaton and Nicholson personas colliding, the Jack character as a barely-veiled Warren Beatty, the $124 million box office, the Nancy Meyerscore that started here, and whether Erica should have just picked Keanu.

45 films across 1 segment.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

No. 23: ‘Something’s Gotta Give’25 for 25

Something's Gotta Give 2003

The pick, at No. 23. It's the first spot the hosts went off script on, bumping it down from 22. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers; Diane Keaton as playwright Erica Barry and Jack Nicholson as hip-hop label owner Harry Sanborn, with Keanu Reeves as the Hamptons doctor, Amanda Peet as Erica's daughter Marin, and Frances McDormand. Made $124M domestic and roughly $265M worldwide off a December release. Sean and Amanda read the Nicholson character as an almost literal Warren Beatty (the Joan Collins and Diane Sawyer name-drops, 'the escape artist') and Erica as a Meyers stand-in writing her own life into a play. Sean calls it the last great studio romantic comedy and the film that codified 'Nancy Meyerscore'; both keep circling the Keanu 'should she just pick him' question and Nicholson's late-career mortality read (multiple heart attacks, the hospital-gown gag).

The Intern 2015

Amanda's beloved Meyers, with De Niro as a retiree interning under Anne Hathaway and falling for Rene Russo's masseuse. Sean grants it's very good but says Something's Gotta Give is the better, more self-contained film.

Baby Boom 1987

Written by Meyers, directed by then-husband Charles Shyer, starring Diane Keaton; Sean notes The Intern basically plays as its sequel.

What Women Want 2000

The Meyers hit that cleared $100M domestic, asking its title question a few films before this one.

It's Complicated 2009

Described as this movie remade with different Oscar winners: Meryl Streep runs the prepared-foods store and chooses between ex-husband Alec Baldwin (the Jack part) and architect Steve Martin. Both hosts like it but call it more flawed. Sean's read: Steve Martin just isn't as sexy, so it lacks the heat.

The Holiday 2006

The other Meyers title fans might have wanted in this slot; the hosts rank it well below and joke it's a 14-hour miniseries, 'Kieslowski's The Decalogue.'

Irreconcilable Differences 1984

Meyers-written and the hardest of her films to see; a thinly veiled Peter Bogdanovich/Polly Platt split, with Drew Barrymore as a child suing to divorce her parents, something Barrymore later pursued in real life.

Father of the Bride 1991

The Shyer/Meyers hit with Keaton second-billed to Steve Martin.

Father of the Bride Part II 1995

The 1995 hit; Amanda fixates on the workout scene with Martin Short as all she could think about through two pregnancies.

The Parent Trap 1998

Meyers's remake, cited among her run of studio hits.

Annie Hall 1977

The Keaton persona this film riffs on, and the first of the if-you-liked-this recommendations.

The First Wives Club 1996

Keaton's massive mid-'90s success and the high point before her late-'90s and early-2000s box-office lull.

Marvin's Room 1996

Keaton's Oscar-bid ensemble with Leonardo DiCaprio, De Niro and Meryl Streep, a stacked cast but not a big hit.

The Only Thrill 1997

The Peter Masterson film from the middle of Keaton's down period.

The Other Sister 1999

Another Keaton title from that late-'90s stretch.

Hanging Up 2000

Keaton directs, from a Nora and Delia Ephron script.

Town & Country 2001

The famous bomb: Warren Beatty, Keaton, Andie MacDowell and Garry Shandling from a Buck Henry script; Keaton's reunion with Beatty two years before this movie.

Reds 1981

Keaton and Nicholson's first screen pairing, Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill; Sean singles out their breakup scene as one of his favorite in movie history.

About Schmidt 2002

Nicholson's rejection of the Jack persona and the film right before this one, where, the hosts say, he 'jacks very hard.'

The Departed 2006

The later-Nicholson role, a few years after this.

The Bucket List 2007

Another late Nicholson title in the run to his final films.

How Do You Know 2010

Nicholson's last film to date, which Sean tags as the most recent James L. Brooks movie until Brooks's return this fall.

As Good as It Gets 1997

A Brooks/Nicholson collaboration cited in the pair's long working history.

Broadcast News 1987

Another Brooks/Nicholson film, and floated as a recommendation for the Brooks and Nicholson overlap.

Terms of Endearment 1983

The Brooks/Nicholson classic in that filmography.

Spanglish 2004

The Brooks film Nicholson is not in; Sean admits he really doesn't like it, which pains him because he loves Brooks and Adam Sandler.

Bridget Jones's Diary 2001

First of Sean's list of romantic comedies that didn't make the 25 and that he argues Something's Gotta Give transcends.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 2003

One of the rom-coms Sean names as not making the list.

13 Going on 30 2004

Another rom-com cited among the list's near-misses.

27 Dresses 2008

On Sean's roll call of romantic comedies that didn't make the cut.

The Wedding Planner 2001

Another of the rom-coms Sean lists as left off.

The Proposal 2009

Cited among the romantic comedies that didn't make the 25.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2008

The last of Sean's near-miss rom-coms.

The Philadelphia Story 1940

The screwball touchstone Amanda reaches for, with its three-in-a-nice-house structure and Keanu as the Cary Grant/Jimmy Stewart interloper who comes to town.

Bringing Up Baby 1938

One of the '30s and '40s screwball models Meyers echoes in the film's framework.

His Girl Friday 1940

Another screwball classic the hosts hear in this movie's DNA.

American Pie 1999

Cited as the film that kicked off the post-1999 MILF vogue that this one twists into 'young man hot for older woman.'

Black Bag 2025

A recent show topic, brought up as steamy-but-chaste next to how physical Something's Gotta Give is willing to be.

You've Got Mail 1998

The Nora Ephron recommendation and its AIM/email romance, the next film on Sean's list.

Heartburn 1986

An Ephron-written recommendation for more 'dastardly Jack.'

Julie & Julia 2009

The Ephron title Sean calls half-working: eligible, but only Julia's half really lands for him.

Lucky Numbers 2000

Floated as a possible Nora Ephron title while sorting through her filmography (she directed it).

John Wick 2014

The Keanu punchline: a wonderful doctor in the Hamptons with no reconstructive knee surgery or bullet holes to speak of.

A Minecraft Movie 2025

The throwaway example of a disposable hit ('made $300 million') against this evergreen pick.

Warfare 2025

Teased for the next episode: the combat film Sean and Chris Ryan will discuss after the Cannes preview.

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