Meg Ryan is a skilled dramatic actress, but she will forever be known as a rom-com Hall of Famer for late 1980s and 1990s keepers such as “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.” Other than a very few TV appearances and an archival flashback moment in “Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan has been absent from screens large and small since the 2015 crime drama “Ithaca,” which she also directed.
Ryan returns to directing and also co-stars with David Duchovny in the curious and strange “What Happens Later,” which plays like an extended “TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER” epilogue of a rom-com. (Ryan also co-wrote the screenplay, which is based on the 2008 play “Shooting Star” by Steven Dietz.) This might have worked as a short film or a 30-minute TV episode, but as a feature film, it grows increasingly cloying as the minutes tick on.
