The best Zack Norman’s romance movies

Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.

Al McCord is hanging out at his favourite restaurant when he meets an attractive young woman (Ellie) who is looking for a ride from the city out into the Mojave Desert, where her mother lives. Little does he know that while Ellie is falling in love with him, he is falling for her mother (Julie), despite the nearby presence of Julie's boyfriend who seems likely to go berzerk at any moment. Even more strange, hilarious events follow and it's up to Al to find some explanation. His life may never again be the same.

The tale of a young girl fresh off the bus from Iowa, who falls in love with a sexy and promising young actor, though their relationship threatens to complicate her own obsessive goal of becoming a famous actress. The film perfectly captures the delightful and desperate lives of those chasing dreams in Hollywood: One day they are shuffling down a boardwalk with too many suitcases, and the next they are lounging in contemporary hillside homes with a view of the city. Though neither state is permanent the more desirable one fuels the dream. The story's extraordinary execution portrays Hollywood as the fantastic and insane place that it is. Written by Lane Kneedler, American Film Institute Magazine