What Happens Later – A Decently Cute Christmas Romcom

What Happens Later sees the return on Meg Ryan to the big screen for the first time in 8 years since her directorial debut Ithica. Ryan steps behind the camera once again and finds herself stepping back into the romantic comedy genre after so many years, clearly putting her past experience with Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner to good use. The film takes place primarily in an airport and follows ex-lovers Willa (Ryan) and Bill (Duchovny) who run into each other for the first time in years as they both found themselves snowed in and trapped in an airport during a nasty winter storm around Christmas time. Awkward and uncomfortable at first, Willa and Bill soon begin to reconnect and revisit their past lives and relationship together. While a little slight and unable to reach the same heights as Ryan’s prime romcoms, the film is undeniably cute and works as well as it does due to the two terrific lead performances from Ryan and Duchovny.

Aside from background characters and extras walking around the airport throughout, and the airport intercom voice, Willa and Bill essentially are the only two characters featured here. At first it may seem a little odd but after getting used to it, the film grows on audiences for how committed and delightfully charming Ryan and Duchovny are together as they play these ex-lovers to perfection. Though both are extremely flawed people, one can’t help but sympathize with them and care about them by the end. Ryan slips right back into the romantic comedy genre with such ease, making audiences realize how much they’ve missed seeing her onscreen. Hopefully this opens the door for her to star in a lot more films, and perhaps also returning as a director. Duchovny is usually more known for more serious and darker roles, but here, he’s effortlessly likeable and funny unlike how many are used to seeing from him. He plays off Ryan well and their chemistry starts strong and only gets better.

A Christmas film through, its central story and themes also fit nicely withing the holiday setting. Sure, there could’ve been a few more decorations around the airport along with brighter and more colorful cinematography to evoke more holiday cheer and less greyness. However, Ryan implements some fantastical elements that would’ve felt out of place under any other setting. Ultimately, they only add to the charm and make the film standout more. While it also features a solid soundtrack that may be as predictable as far as romcoms go, watching these characters reconnect and grow in their own ways gives it a nice heart and a sweet nature. When executed properly, it’s a winning formula and that was thankfully the case here.

While the film is a perfectly enjoyable little romcom to watch around the holiday season and refreshingly doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. In the end, it is sadly nothing more than that and will likely be a bit forgettable as a result. A film that only features two actors and takes place primarily in one location is usually only 80-90 minutes max (with a few notable exceptions of course), this one, however, suffers due to a 103-minute runtime that drags and meanders in the middle. Meanwhile, for a romcom, it is not terribly funny especially with its more than capable leads and as more dramatic moments come into play, they work surprisingly well and make up for the lack of laughs.

What Happens Later isn’t something one needs to rush out to see in a theatre unless they are a mega Meg Ryan fan but either way, the film is a delightful, charming, and heartfelt romcom that would make for an absolutely lovely watch at home this Christmas season. Though it might be a little too lightweight for some, if one goes into this with the right expectations, they will likely enjoy themselves.

still courtesy of Bleecker Street Media

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/