by Kevin Muller

Before streaming came along, it wasn’t unheard of that a romantic comedy would make over 100 million dollars. People flocked to the films of two people, usually at odds with one another, before slowly falling in love. Recently, Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell, gave hope that films like these aren’t finished. Back in the 90’s, the Queen of this genre was Meg Ryan. Ask your mom, Aunt, or Grandmother, what they think of her, and you will probably be greeted with a warm smile and some kind words. Ryan had a monopoly on being the cute girl who just can’t find love. After the decade ended, her star power faded. She tried to dip her toes in different genres, but she never saw the same success as did in those films. Now, she is back in the genre that made her a star. Not only does she headline the new film What Happens Later, but she also co-wrote the script and directed it.

Our meet cute begins when Bill and Willa get stranded in an airport. We soon find out that the two used to be lovers but had a sour breakup. As time progresses, the flight keeps getting delayed and these two must spend more time with one another and we find out the truth about why their relationship went south.

Meg Ryan still has charm, as does her costar David Duchovny, but as a director, she doesn’t have the skill to make this premise sing. First off, the look of the film is incredibly bland and boring. What made Ryan’s films a joy to watch were the vibrant colors and overall warmth of them. Bartosz Nalazek makes this airport seem like the most lifeless place on the Earth. In the 2004 film The Terminal, Spielberg made New York City’s JFK into a vast space of life. That terminal was its own character. The production design does no favors in covering the other flaws in the story. What Ryan does is put a corny, but somewhat effective, device in here involving the airport announcer acting as a random voice of reason. At first, it is something that makes you smile but quickly loses its impact as the film slogs through its 105 minutes runtime.

The worst crime that this film commits is the flat and uninteresting dialogue. If you aren’t going to dress up the environment, at least you should have thoughtful and interesting dialogue, right? Not here. There is an old saying that goes, “just because you are consistently talking, doesn’t mean what you are saying has any depth.” Ryan and cowriters, Kirk Lynn and Steven Dietz, whose adapting his play Shooting Stars, overflow the dialogue between these two. There are films like this, specifically Before series, that can survive on the script alone. The conversations bring up memories and feelings of our past decisions, lives, and loves. The script is the weakest element of an already weak film. Ryan and Duchovny can’t make it work either. It is just a mix of attempted sharp humor, dull insight, and typical tropes from this genre that sink this thing to the bottom. It all comes off as irritating and shallow.

You would think that Ryan would take all what she has seen from her time in the genre and properly apply it to this film. Sadly, it seems that she took all the weakest elements and applied it here. Despite their charms, her and Duchovny don’t seem engaged in the material. It as if they realized they were in a turkey when they were filming.

I am giving What Happens Later a 1.5 out of 5 Hairpieces!