12 Brilliant Mike Nichols Movies to Watch Right Now
The entertainment world lost a true legend this week with the passing of film and theater director Mike Nichols. While Nichols is likely best known for directing classics like “The Graduate” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” Nichols was also the vision behind cult classics like “The Birdcage” and “Working Girl.”
In fact, Nichols was one of the most accomplished directors of his time — one of only 12 people ever to have won the ‘EGOT,’ an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar, and a Tony. Nichols was as accomplished in the world of theater as he was in the world of film, starting off as one half of the comedy duo “Nichols and May” (with Elaine May) before moving on to direct original theatrical hits like “Spamalot” and “Barefoot in the Park.” As recently as 2013, he’d directed real-life husband-and-wife Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz in “Betrayal” on Broadway.
Nichols’ own biography reads like something out of a dramatic movie: Born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky in Weimar Germany to Russian Jewish immigrants, Nichols moved to New York with his father in 1939 to escape persecution by the Nazis. (His mother later joined them, and the family took the name Nichols.) Nichols has said that when he arrived in New York, he only knew two phrases in English: “I don’t speak English” and “Please don’t kiss me.”
After finding success as first a comedian and later a director, Nichols met news anchor Diane Sawyer by chance in a Concorde lounge at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris in 1986, and the two were inseparable ever since, marrying in 1988.
To celebrate the life and career of this incredible talent, we’ve rounded up 12 of Nichols’ best movies that you should watch immediately—seriously, like, tonight, or this weekend—and where you can find ’em.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Adapted from the Edward Albee play of the same name, this wildly acclaimed flick (it was nominated for a whopping 13 Academy Awards) features one of the all-time best performances from real-life couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who play a pretty terrifying married couple on a New England college campus. And it was Nichols’ first time directing a film. Can you imagine? (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
The Graduate (1967)
In which a 30-year-old Dustin Hoffman absolutely nails the post-college sense of apathy and pathos that plagues many a recent graduate, and a sexier-than-sexy “older woman” in the form of Anne Bancroft (then just 36!) seduces him. Oh, and arguably the best movie soundtrack of all time by Simon & Garfunkel. (Stream it via Netflix)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Starring Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, and Ann-Margret, this movie—which tracks the romantic lives of two college friends over a period of 25 years—was so frank about sexuality that a theater manager in Georgia was convicted of “distributing obscene material.” (The U.S. Supreme Court later reversed the decision.) (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Heartburn (1986)
One of the movies that best represents Nichols’ signature blend of comedy and drama, “Heartburn” features Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson in their first-ever film together. The plot tracks the courtship, marriage, and then split of New York food writer and a Washington, D.C. political columnist. (Fun fact: The screenplay was written by Nora Ephron, and based on her real-life split with “All the Presidents Men” writer Carl Bernstein.) (Stream it via Netflix)
Biloxi Blues (1988)
In a classically Nichols theater-to-film production, this movie was written by theatrical heavyweight Neil Simon, who adapted it from a semi-autobiographical play of the same name. A follow-up to Simon’s classic “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” it stars Matthew Broderick as a 20-year-old Jewish kid from Brooklyn who’s sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for U.S. Army basic training. (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Working Girl (1988)
A cult classic to beat all cult classics, “Working Girl” featured a killer cast — Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Cusack, Kevin Spacey — and starred a young Melanie Griffith as a spunky Staten Island girl who works her way up from secretary to the corner office thanks to some sneaky maneuvering while her boss is recovering from a skiing accident. Not only is the movie itself a complete delight, it also boasts some of the most amazing New York moments captured on film — from Griffith riding the Staten Island ferry to downtown Manhattan to Ford’s bachelor pad in Soho. (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
One of the films that set the standard for devil-may-care female relationships on film (“Thelma and Louise” came a year later), “Poscards” stars Meryl Streep as a recovering drug addict who’s forced to move back in with her mother, a former musical comedy star (played by Shirley MacLaine), in order to keep her insurance coverage. Fights and hilarity ensues. (Fun fact: the script was actually written by actress Carrie Fisher, based on her semi-autobiographical novel.) (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Regarding Henry (1991)
This sleeper hit stars Harrison Ford as a truly despicable Manhattan attorney who gets shot and loses his memory, and is then forced to come to terms with the man he was. (Fun fact: J.J. Abrams wrote the screenplay!) (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
The Birdcage (1996)
Adapted from the Franco-Italian ’70s hit “La Cage Aux Folles,” this laugh-out-loud comedy stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple who runs a drag club in Miami’s South Beach. When their son decides to marry the daughter of a political conservative (played by Gene Hackman), the duo stage a spectacular subterfuge (which, of course, goes horribly awry) in an attempt to convince the conservative new in-laws that they’re just a normal husband and wife. (Stream it via Netflix)
Primary Colors (1998)
This political drama, starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, and Billy Bob Thornton), may have been based on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run, but really it’s never felt more timely. (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Angels in America (2003)
This HBO miniseries was adapted from the acclaimed two-part Tony Kushner play and centers on six New Yorkers whose lives intersect during the height of the AIDS epidemic in ’80s New York. The play itself is like a kaleidoscope of characters, plot lines, and dreamscapes, and the TV version spanned six parts and nearly six hours—but it’s worth the time investment for the performances from the cast, which includes Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, Patrick Wilson, Justin Kirk, Jeffrey Wright, and Ben Shenkman. (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
Closer (2004)
Another movie based on a play, this romantic drama has a killer cast — Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman — and revolves around the lives of various couples, whose love lives in some cases intersect. (It’s also arguably an anti-romance, since a lot of the relationships have absolutely devastating endings.) Watch with tissues handy. (Available on DVD only via Netflix)
