When Meg imitated Nora: Ryan’s rom-com falls flat
Meg Ryan, star of such classic Nora Ephron-penned rom-coms as When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle, tries her hand at directing, co-writing, and starring in her own rom-com, and the results are disastrous. What this picture is is debatable, but one thing’s for sure: it’s neither rom nor com. The fact that Ryan dedicates the film to the late great Ephron only serves as a reminder of those halcyon days of far better Ephron-Ryan helmed vehicles.
Ryan co-wrote the script with screenwriter Kirk Lynn and playwright Steven Dietz, on whose 2008 play Shooting Star the film is based, so some of the film’s problems may not all be Ryan’s fault. But this stage-to-screen adaptation definitely loses something in translation. A two-hander about former college sweethearts who run into each other at a “regional” airport (the exact location is never named) after 25 years, the film is nearly two hours of continuous, often tedious talk.
Ryan stars as new-agey “wellness practitioner” Willa, who lives in Austin but is en route to Boston. Her scene partner is David Duchovny, whose buttoned up finance bro William (AKA Bill) lives in Boston, but is en route to Austin. Not only do they share that coincidence, but both also happen to have the same common last name of Davis. That means, of course, that they are both “W. Davis,” which they call each other incessantly, in one of the film’s many overly cute affectations. This name similarity also leads to a plot point that anyone who’s ever flown on an airplane will find totally implausible.
But realism is clearly not what Ryan is going for here. She imbues the picture with a magical realism tone, from the symbolically falling snowflakes at the film’s start, to the February 29th “magical day” setting, to the gauzy twinkling lights and the pithy airport announcements directed only to Willa and Bill, who mysteriously seem to be the only two passengers in the terminal.
Against this carefully curated mystical backdrop, Willa and Bill, delayed by a snowstorm, have plenty of time to catch up and rehash their long ago relationship, which they do ad nauseam. If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall as a couple dissects why their relationship failed, then maybe this picture is for you. Pair this movie on a double bill with Marriage Story, and you’d have a great marketing tool for singlehood.
But back to the film at hand. The movie’s fantastical elements contrast with the more straightforward dialogue, in which Willa and Bill argue and share honest and sometimes painful recollections of their time together. While often plodding and cliche, the dialogue is treated as if it’s profound and unique. “I’ve been in my 50s since my 20s,” Bill says to Willa, and she responds by laughing uproariously, as if that’s the wittiest thing she’s ever heard. Later, she tells him with earnest sincerity, “You’re on a journey, not a trip,” and that’s right about when you may start wishing you were watching When Harry Met Sally for the 100th time instead.
Ryan includes some winking nods to that film — from echoing snippets of dialogue to some familiar airport set pieces — but all those call backs do is cause us to miss the Ryan of yesteryear. Ryan also costumes Willa in a shapeless long sleeve prairie dress and long coat, an odd choice that makes Willa look like she either just woke up from a long winter’s nap or escaped from a mental institution. That, and the fact her hair hovers over her face, nearly hiding it in every scene, is distracting, and just make us think Ryan must be self-conscious about the fact she’s no longer the 1980s ingénue she once was.
In fact, the film seems to want to say something about memory, regret, and aging, which is all fine and well, but the musical interludes — including a cringeworthy dance scene and an ostensible moment of playfulness with a luggage cart — just negate any meaningful point the film might be trying to convey. The whole exercise feels like a cross between The Big Chill and When Harry Met Sally, with none of the charm of either. Ryan and Duchnovy both deserve better, and so does Nora Ephron.
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What Happens Later opens today at Bay Area theaters.
