Jeff Nathanson

Jeff Nathanson is an American screenwriter arguably best known for efficiently crafting crowd-pleasing films for directors Steven Spielberg and Brett Ratner. Although Hollywood and audiences have always loved writers with a flair for witty turns of phrase and intelligent character development, the screenwriters able to pen thunderous action and keep the pace thumping throughout also have their place at the cinematic dinner table. Nathanson is one of the latter. He has, however, managed to also work on more character-based films like Spielberg's stylish comedic crime movie "Catch Me If You Can" and the comedy drama "The Terminal." So his skills include more than the lavish action sequences in Ratner's "Rush Hour" productions and projects like "Speed 2: Cruise Control" and Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." In 2004, Nathanson got a chance to sit in the director's chair himself, helming the action comedy "The Last Shot," starring Alec Baldwin and Matthew Broderick, about an undercover FBI investigation that utilized two unsuspecting screenwriters in a phony movie sting operation intended to nab crooked non-union crew members involved in bribery. Nathanson once again worked with Broderick on Ratner's 2011 crime comedy "Tower Heist," which also starred Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Casey Affleck.