What Happens Later movie review

MOVIE TITLE: What Happens Later

This rom-com movie is currently playing only in theaters, but starting Nov. 28, it will be available to buy or rent on demand on platforms like Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 43 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: C

IN A NUTSHELL:

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to randomly run into my old flames. Have you? Well, that’s what this movie explores when Willa and Bill see each other for the first time in years when they’re snowed in at an airport.

The film was directed by Meg Ryan and stars America’s Sweetheart herself. She wrote the script with Steven Dietz and Kirk Lynn based on a play by Dietz called “Shooting Star.”

THINGS I LIKED:

It’s great seeing Meg Ryan in another rom-com. It’s been 8 years. My favorite rom-com of hers is You’ve Got Mail.
David Duchovny always does a great job and fits this role very well.
The setting of an airport is the perfect location for this couple to meet again. The analogy of baggage rings loud and clear.
We learn more about each of these characters slowly as the layers of their lives are stripped away from the surface-level conversations of the beginning.
I thought it was cute when David Duchovny’s character unplugged an electronic poster that advertised a movie called “Rom Com” in order to use the outlet for his cell phone.
There is some subtle, welcome humor, mostly coming from amusing announcements on the PA system.
Fun fact: This was filmed at an airport in Arkansas.
I could definitely relate to being stranded in an airport. Life completely pauses. Many years ago, I was stranded with some other college students at the Denver airport due to a snowstorm. Flights were canceled and we wandered around, hoping there would be a magical break in the weather that would allow us to go on our way. We ended up sleeping on the floor because the chairs had permanent armrests that made it impossible to be comfortable. I remember waking up to the sound of an older woman asking, “Are they asleep? Poor dears.”
The end of the movie shows these words: “For Nora”, offering a loving tribute to the late Nora Ephron, her former mentor.
The ending is sweet, touching, and appropriate.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The rom-com genre usually features a charming couple falling in love. What we get here, instead, is talk of how a couple used to be in love. Of course, there is a remnant of that love, but we don’t get the same satisfaction as we would if the outlook for a romantic future were possible with this pair. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t much chemistry between the two very different characters, which made you wonder how they ever got together in the first place.
Because it’s a rom-com, we want the couple to kiss, yet we know it would be entirely improper because one of them is married.
A lot of the banter is only mildly entertaining. The dialogue mostly reveals past mistakes and pain mingled with regrets and sad arguments.
I feel terrible saying this but Meg Ryan’s facial plastic surgery is super distracting. She was perfect before and didn’t need to do anything to her beautiful face.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be bored and certainly not be able to relate to this relationship. Some adults will be super bored too. (Fair warning)
Profanity and several F-bombs
Talk of premarital relations
Talk of giving away a baby born out of wedlock
Infidelity

THEMES:

Old romantic relationships
Choices & consequences
Commitment
Secrets
Life’s twists and turns

INTERESTING LINES:

“Are you on a trip or a journey?” – Willa (Meg Ryan)
“Do you think we’d go our entire lives without ever seeing each other again?” – Willa (Meg Ryan)
“Most of the things I worry about never happen anyway.” – Bill (David Duchovny)
“If you talk about something, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s a possibility. If you schedule it, it’s reality.” – Bill (David Duchovny)