With the recent success of HBO’s Big Little Lies, Reese Witherspoon can probably pick up any project that comes along the way and turn it into gold. Witherspoon showed us that her talents and skills are still growing, as she acted as one of the main stars of the show and as executive producer. Before this, Witherspoon breathed life into Rosita, a singing animated pig from the wildly successful cartoon musical Sing, and not too long ago, she trekked and popularized the Pacific Crest Trail with her portrayal of author Cheryl Strayed in her autobiographical novel turned screenplay.
However, there’s more to this latest project than seeing Witherspoon tackle a romantic comedy again, much like we got used to in the early 2000s. Perhaps Witherspoon had a bigger role in this film than just acting the part to make it believable; she might’ve had a bigger part to play in order to bring this movie to a wider audience. Witherspoon’s pull will allow moviegoers to be a witness, yet again, to a slowly growing and important movement that’s happening in Hollywood, and that’s the rise of female directors.
It isn’t also just the rise of them, but the success of them as well. People aren’t strangers to the fact that Hollywood is still a largely male-dominant industry. Looking at the list of directors that have won Academy Awards throughout its existence alone, you’ll notice that only one woman has ever received the coveted award since it was first bestowed in 1927. One. It also begs to notice the fact that there are not many female directors to begin with and not a lot of options for nominations.
There’s a trend that’s defying that norm with a force that’s quite impressive. The lone female Oscar winner for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow, happened to win with a hardcore war film. Another recent movie success, Wonder Woman, was directed by an equally wondrous woman behind the camera, Patty Jenkins.
Now we’ve got Home Again, directed by a relative newbie, someone who’s had Hollywood running through her veins since she was born. Hallie Meyers-Shyer, young, hungry, and female, is as unlikely a director as we’ve ever seen according to Hollywood standards, and we love it. She’s got her own voice, her own style, and her own vision. As the daughter of Hollywood writer, producer, and director Nancy Meyers, Meyers-Shyer knows it can be done and she’s doing it with the help of Home Again’s impressive cast: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Lake Bell, Candice Bergen, Nat Wolff, and newcomer Pico Alexander.
Hopefully, Meyers-Shyer can also get the traction she needs to propel her career forward with the support of Hollywood’s many moviegoers and movie aficionados. We need to see more young women try to compete with the traditionalistic elements of the industry, and we need to see them succeed. It’s all in the name of society’s progress, and if simply seeing a movie can do it, why shouldn’t you? You’ll be seeing Witherspoon in her glory, after all, and that’s just an added bonus.
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