Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
MoPoshy
Absolutely brilliant
Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
gavin6942
Jackie, a secretary in a legal firm, invites Michael, a paralegal in her office, over for a dinner date. The film follows the course of their evening as the two manage to surprise each other with hidden, unexpected twists of character.In many ways, this is not unlike Richard Linklater's "Before" trilogy, because it amounts to basically a couple in conversation for 90 minutes. The key difference, however, is that Linklater utilized some great locations. Noonan adapted the film from a stage play, and this is quite evident... it could easily be shot in one room, whether it be an apartment, a library, or pretty much anywhere.The writing is good and the acting is strong, but the film itself is just alright. It never really rises above the stage play, and it seems a shame to translate something from a play to a film without making the necessary adjustments.
sol-
Two work colleagues share an awkward first date in the woman's high rise apartment in this unusual film written and directed by and starring Tom Noonan. The movie is based on a stage play that Noonan wrote and he turns it into a very cinematic experience with lots of mobile camera-work early on and some unsettling cutaway shots later on as lead actress Karen Sillas reads a ghoulish children's tale. The juice of the film comes from the constant sense of uneasiness in the air and a general sense of something sinister afoot. Both characters have moments in which they seem borderline psychotic and it gradually becomes clear that they are not as good friends as they thought they were when together in the workplace -- which may be the very point of the film. Promising as all this might sound, the film never quite capitalises on its implications of sinister things out there. Noonan's constant glances out the window (and the voyeuristic shots that look back at him) create a particularly ominous mood in the story-reading scene, but this mood shatters once the story is over. Other offbeat touches, like a fluorescent light flickering as Noonan enters the apartment, also add little to the tale. If not a wholly satisfying film, 'What Happened Was...' is at least daringly different and it is incredibly encapsulating for a film that essentially just consists of two people talking. Both characters are extremely easy to relate to, and some of the more subtle directing touches (silences; repeated dialogue) go a long way to rendering both of them as very human despite their individual quirks.
appc
I can't say if it is a good or bad movie, but what I believe is that it is a real life movie: I must know it, it describes what many of us have lived in real life, actually, it is a mirror image of many lives. I do not mean by that I am some dysfunctional guy, but everybody has a little of that. You should watch it; it is possible that you may find yourself re-living some personal experience. It is not a typical Hollywood movie, it is a rather practical and real life experience that as you watch you begin feeling as if some knew about you and made it a movie. I watched this movie with my wife and she kept on joking about how similar the story was with our first dates.
lboller-1
I really loved this movie. The situation is easy to relate to, at least at the beginning. These two office workers are lonely and want to find someone, but each is struggling with "how to begin" and "what to reveal." I laughed at each of the characters and felt sorrow for each of them as well. The climax, I believe, is her monologue about the children's book she is writing. She delivers a fine performance, and Mr. Noonan's response is perhaps that of the audience. I shifted in my seat, peering into a soul perverted by anxiety and solitude. In one final coup, however, Noonan leaves us hanging, with the man more interested in trying again than the woman. Nice. I was never bored with this film, not once.
