Thirty years ago, Meg Ryan and David Duchovny were at the height of their popularity. Ryan starred opposite Tom Hanks in one of the definitive romantic comedies, Sleepless in Seattle, and Duchovny was headlining, along with Gillian Anderson, what would become one of the most popular series of the 1990s, The X-Files. While Duchovny has starred in other series like Californication and Aquarius, and a few films since, you have to go back to 2015 for Ryan’s last screen credit, her directorial debut Ithaca. The two are back together in Ryan’s second try at directing, What Happens Later, a film that falls flat early on and doesn’t get much better after that…
Winter weather has made it so that both Willa (Ryan) and Bill (Duchovny) have been rerouted from their previous flight plans and are now stranded in some unidentified regional airport. As they both search desperately for a working power outlet, they soon recognize each other. It’s their first meeting in years, and quite a significant one given their relationship history. Things evidently didn’t end well, and being stuck in the same place is going to give – or force – them to have an opportunity to reconnect after a good deal of time apart.
While the idea of having Ryan back in a romantic comedy is appealing and Duchovny typically has his own charm, there’s little about this film that works. Both characters are so miserable and unpleasant that it’s hard to find an endearing quality in either. Willa is an eccentric free spirit who carries a rainstick with her and doesn’t seem to accomplish much, while Bill is a disgruntled worker bee who has to contend with a much younger boss talking down to him. Being reunited doesn’t make either of them more tolerable, and being together only seems to make them less happy and more on edge.
Adding to the off-putting nature of this film are a few flourishes that prove entirely unproductive. As a frequent flyer, I can’t comprehend what kind of random regional airport could possibly have so many gates, in-terminal restaurants, and flights to many major destinations across the United States. The lack of specificity doesn’t give it a whimsical charm that makes it feel like it could “happen anywhere,” it just makes it seem entirely unbelievable. Frequent announcements that are pointedly directly at these two travelers are meant to feel like a guiding Voice of God but instead are just as grating as the people.
What Happens Later is clearly meant to be a film that spotlights performers in their sixties and shows that they can still anchor a comedy. Ryan and Duchovny are talented and funny, yet none of that is on display here. Ryan was great in a somewhat against-type role in 2009’s Serious Moonlight, directed by Cheryl Hines, and here, directing herself, she seems almost irritated to be on set. Duchovny’s performances in decent films like The Joneses and The TV Set have typically asked little of him, and that’s what he gives here, only minus the charm that usually inhabits his characters.
This film is based on a play, Steven Dietz’s Shooting Star, and as such only features these two actors. The adaptation from stage to screen doesn’t feel necessary since Ryan and Duchovny simply move from one gate to another to sit in different chairs, and they never interact with anyone else around them despite a moderately constant flow of people. Several outside shots of the snowy airport preview an ending that doesn’t come soon enough, concluding a story that feels entirely unoriginal and unfortunately stale. C-
What Happens Later is now playing in theaters. Images courtesy of Bleecker Street.