Review: Meg Ryan’s ‘What Happens Later’ is a Comedic Misfire

by Abe Friedtanzer

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…

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Would you rather?

Would you rather?

• Befriend lizards with Thandiwe Newton?
• Play "Clue" with Margo Martindale?
• Flip for Simu Liu?
• Adjust Jake's wardrobe with Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi?
• Visit Paris with Gemma Chan?
• Play "Who Am I?" with Madonna?
• Apply Daniel K Isaac's nipple guards before the marathon?
• Sail the open ocean with Jake Gyllenhaal?
• Pick pumpkins with Meg Ryan?
• Spot Dax Shepard while he's changing a tire?
• or Enjoy a care package with Teyonnah Parris?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide.

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Showbiz History: Meg & Dennis, Clarice & Hannibal, Wayne & Garth

6 random things that happened on this day, February 14th, in showbiz history...

1931 Tod Browning's Dracula starring Bela Lugosi arrives in US theaters, two days after its NYC premiere. The studio wisely publicized that people had fainted at the premiere and the movie was a huge success. Sequels and spin-offs and endless remakes or, rather, adaptations of the Bram Stoker source material follow...

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Almost There: Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally..."

by Cláudio Alves

Last week, we examined a Christmas movie performance that came close to Oscar glory to celebrate the holidays. Now that we're coming to the end of this cursed 2020, it seems appropriate to choose a New Year's Eve film. When it came time to pick such a picture, my mind immediately went to f Rob Reiner's 1989 When Harry Met Sally…, a perfect rom-com whose Nora Ephron-penned screenplay earned a much-deserved Academy Award nomination. Our focus shall be on the Sally of the title, Meg Ryan giving a comedienne's masterclass…

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Women's Pictures - Jane Campion's In the Cut

Anne Marie's Women's Pictures continues with her month-long look at the films of Jane Campion.

Before you look at me askance for choosing the 2003 film In the Cut for this week’s Jane Campion movie, let me share a smattering of the comments people have made at TFE and on Facebook about it:

“if you're going to cover 5 of her 7 films anyway, why not tackle the absolute worst of the lot?”

“fyi don't listen to anyone who says IN THE CUT is a bad movie. it's fantastic & worth finding.”

“I don't like In the Cut but as far as failures go, it's definitely one of the more interesting/intriguing ones.”

“IN THE CUT is one of my very very very very favorites of ever in everdom.”

With such wildly varied responses, my interest was piqued. And now, having watched In the Cut twice, I must say: everyone is right. It’s a terrible thriller. It’s also a fascinating meditation on the complicated, kinky relationship between sex and violence, told from a woman’s perspective. It is the simultaneously the most and least Campion-like film we’ve watched this month. In The Cut is a messy, ugly, beautiful contradiction.

It also has naked Mark Ruffalo. You're welcome.

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