15 Of The Best Nancy Meyers Pick-Up Lines, Ranked

For Valentine's Day, I decided to revisit some of Meyers' very best, focusing only on films that Meyers wrote or co-wrote. (Sorry to any Home Again fans out there.)

I also thought extensively about the anatomy of a pick-up line. I decided it can be anything from the first time someone is hit on to a line that changes the dynamic of a relationship forever. As Doc in The Princess Diaries puts it, “That’s the hardest place to be. Between friend and, uh, friendlier.” (I’m confident that the Venn diagram between people who like Nancy Meyers and people who get the Doc reference is a circle.)

So, please throw on your cashmere, pour yourself a cup of tea, push aside the plans for your new addition, and follow me into a world where the worst thing that can happen is that you burn your perfectly baked croissant (although Nancy would never). 

Plot-heavy spoilers ahead. 

Simple. Easy. Straightforward. Sometimes pick-up lines can work this way. This line is not very romantic, but it’s not really intended to be, either. Doreen (Eileen Brennan) and William (Craig T. Nelson) are Captains in the army, and they ask each other out like it’s a line on a to-do list. Doreen is our villain, the frizzy-haired meanie to our namesake Private Benjamin’s (Goldie Hawn) perfect curls and smile. But, even meanies deserve a bit of fun on a Friday night. And if it can lead Benjamin and her crew to hijinks? All the better! 

Rent it on Prime Video.

This is the response to Fiona (Rene Russo) saying to Ben (Robert De Niro), “At our age it’s not even possible to catch up.” They’ve just gone on a first date to a shiva, because, honestly, why not. After the shiva they walk, somewhat aimlessly, and get down to the nitty gritty. Up to this point, their communication has been harmless office flirting. Now they tell each other who they are. Widowed. Divorced. Kids. Sick, but not anymore. It’s practical and romantic. Now they know their pasts and can embrace each other's futures. 

Rent it on Prime Video. 

This is a textbook-perfect meet-cute! First, what is a meet-cute? Meyers explains via Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach) in The Holiday, “Say a man and a woman both need something to sleep in and both go to the same men’s pajama department. The man says to the salesman, ‘I just need bottoms,’ and the woman says, ‘I just need a top.’ They look at each other, and that’s the ‘meet-cute.’” Chessy (Lisa Ann Walter) is Hallie’s housekeeper. Martin (Simon Kunz) is Annie’s housekeeper. They look at each other, and that’s the meet-cute. But, what's a meet-cute without a follow-up pick-up line? It’s not until Martin takes her hand, says “enchanté, mademoiselle,” and kisses it that he sweeps her off her feet. Bonus points for being IN FRENCH! I love that Martin, Annie, and Elizabeth all inexplicably speak French. 

Watch it on Disney+.

Every decade, if we're lucky, we get a man to sweep us off our feet. I’m talking your Jack Dawsons. Your Harry Styles. And, of course, your Mr. Napkin Heads. Graham (Jude Law) loves Amanda (Cameron Diaz). He doesn’t care about the logistics of her living in LA and him living in London. Or, that they've only known each other a week and change at this point. He just knows that he loves her. And while she won’t admit it — yet! —  she loves him, too. Mr. Napkin Head, the embodiment of perfection, is a book publisher — surprisingly not an architect — and has two adorable young daughters plus a cow. Meyers flips the script on us with this one; she’s leather, he’s lace. 

Watch it on Hulu.

Say it louder for the people in the back: Can Jules (Anne Hathaway) have it all? Umm maybe! Unlike most of the other lines on this list, this one is delivered while the couple (Jules and her husband, Matt [Anders Holm]) is already in bed together. But, she’s overworked and stressed, and he’s feeling unappreciated. There’s something so sad about this line when you learn later that she knows he is having an affair. It’s a nice way to say they want to spend meaningful time together. 

Rent it on Prime Video. 

What if I told you the Erica (Diane Keaton), Harry (Jack Nicholson), Julian (Keanu Reeves) love triangle in Something's Gotta Give was the inspiration for Taylor Swift’s “The Way I Love You"? I’d be lying, but I did have you there for a second. Julian is “sensible and so incredible, And all my single friends are jealous,” but Harry is, “2:00 a.m. and I’m cursing your name, so in love that you act insane, and that’s the way I loved you.” Julian is the perfect man; he’s never been married, he’s a doctor, he’s a catch — he’s literally Keanu Reeves! He’s also 20 years Erica’s junior and she can’t understand what he sees in her. When she asks, he says, “you’re sexy,” to which she blushes in disbelief. I love a frazzled Diane Keaton! Again, he’s “charming and endearing,” and completely taken by her. But, is he the one that gives her the feeling that “hasn’t happened before?” 

Watch it on Prime Video.

When Jane (Meryl Streep) says this to Adam (Steve Martin), she doesn’t even realize the power of what she’s saying. At this point, Adam is simply her — you guessed it  — architect, one of three professions that writers know how to write about in rom-coms. (Anecdotally, I can say that, as a writer, I don’t know what any of my friends do when they go to work, but I do understand that buildings need to be built and cupcakes start as flour.) Jane is building an addition to her already beautiful home, and Adam reads all 47 of her emails to figure out what she wants. He understands her. She only wants one sink in the new master bathroom! But, perhaps she’ll change her mind? 

Watch it on Peacock.

In real life, I might hate someone for trying to get under my skin, but boy, oh boy, does it work here. By this point in the film, Jeff (Sam Shepard) knows J.C.'s (Diane Keaton) secrets, wants, and needs. She's confessed to him in a rambling monologue, thinking he’s a doctor, and has become hilariously furious upon discovering he's actually a vet. J.C. is an uptight city girl, Jeff is a smooth country boy, decades before Hallmark made it the norm. They’re a perfectly imperfect pair. The payoff of this pick-up line is at the end of the film when J.C. says, “Do you remember that night in the library when you asked me if all men made me nervous or if it was just you? I think all men make me nervous… except you.” I swoon, they kiss. I still think J.C. could have taken the three million for her new company (work) and stayed in Vermont (love), but that’s for another article.

Watch it on HBO Max.

IYKYK. Now, if you don’t think this is a pick-up line, I don’t know what to tell you because then, babe babe babe, we’re watching two different movies. Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) sees Tie-Dye Girl and immediately proclaims, “now, THAT’s my kind of woman!” When Hallie is too stunned to speak, perhaps from love at first sight, her friend solicits Tie-Dye Girl's help grabbing Hallie's duffle. They’re all in the same cabin – hooray! From there, it’s a summer of bliss (pre-isolation Cabin), just pranks and piggybacks. 

Watch it on Disney+.

No notes. 10/10. A perfect Wattpad fever dream.  

This is what one could only dream of if Jude Law knocked on your door. Unfortunately, it is a rarity for women in film (and life) to ask for exactly what they want. Here Amanda (Cameron Diaz) does, and spoiler alert, it works! 

Watch it on Hulu.

Listen, I know this line wouldn’t work on everyone, but does it work on Judy (Goldie Hawn), and would it hypothetically work on me, the author of this article? Yes and yes. Before joining the army, Judy is a perfect Jewish girl, with life aspirations of marrying a perfect Jewish boy, preferably a doctor or lawyer (she’s already been married twice, once to a doctor). So when she meets Henrí (Armand Assante) on a night out from the army, he makes her head spin — he’s French, sophisticated, and looks a lot like a young Paul McCartney (or maybe I’m just watching too much Get Back). But, she’s a good girl and will absolutely not go back to his hotel room after only knowing each other for a few hours. But then he says, “I’m Jewish,” and it’s a smash cut to them in bed. Iconic.

Rent it on Prime Video.

This line may be controversial in a Meyers ranking because it is more of a statement than a declaration of feelings. Not to mention, when this line is delivered, they've already slept together twice (though never sleeping in the same bed after). Now, Harry (Jack Nicholson) comes to Erica (Diane Keaton) and asks if he can spend the night in her bed. It’s the first time we see his playboy exterior start to crack. He doesn’t want to be alone. In the morning after they’ve slept 8 hours (something that neither of them has done in years), he says to her, “Erica, you are a woman to love.” He doesn’t say he loves her, just that someone hypothetically out there should love her. She leaves the room and says to herself, “what the hell does that mean?” She’s confused! We’re confused. And Harry soon realizes that he’s confused. The confusion is what makes the line so fun. They both leave wondering what they are to each other? And what their dalliance meant. 

Watch it on Prime Video.

Setting aside the teensy-tinsy detail of this being a plea to have an affair, it’s just about a perfect line. Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) are a divorced couple whom, while visiting New York for their son’s college graduation, wind up at a bar together, drinking a little too much, and end up in bed. Jane is adamant that it’ll never happen again, and this is where Jake begs her to see what they still have. Ethics notwithstanding, Jake does make a good point. They know each other, they love each other, maybe there’s still something there? They’ve lit a spark; it’ll either quickly be blown out or cause a forest fire, leaving destruction in its path. 

Watch it on Peacock.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE CONCORDE GETS YOU HERE IN HALF THE TIME?!!! Did you? As a child, this was as dramatic as the end of Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. I did not know what a Concorde was, and I did not see it coming! This is suspense! This is CINEMA! As a rom-com connoisseur, I believe there are two problems with most 21st Century rom-com’s: 1) the invention of the smartphone;  2) the lack of Concorde planes. Nick (Dennis Quaid) doesn’t just FaceTime Elizabeth (Natasha Richardson). He gets on a FASTER plane from Napa to London to beat her home and confess his love! She cries, they kiss. Like The Holiday, there are logistics to figure out, but we simply can’t worry about that now. The twins smile, ending the film with an iconic last line, Hallie in disbelief saying, “We actually did it!” 

Watch it on Disney+.

*Holds up "TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT" sign from Love Actually* 

We’ve seen the perfect line. We’ve seen the grand romantic gesture. Now, let’s put them together. Miles (Jack Black) doesn’t just confess his feeling for Iris (Kate Winslet), he writes her a song! Using only the good notes! I’ve seen this movie countless times, and every time I swoon here because Miles knocks it out of the park. The way the line switches mid-sentence from future tense to present tense gets me every time. Miles is everything her terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ex was not. He sees her, and he’s there for her. He would never forget to buy her a Christmas present.

Watch it on Hulu.