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What Happened Was...

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What Happened Was...

Jackie and Michael are coworkers at a large law firm. They decide to meet at Jackie's for dinner one night.

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Release : 1994
Rating : 7.3
Studio : Samuel Goldwyn Company,  Good Machine,  Genre Pictures, 
Crew : Production Design,  Director of Photography, 
Cast : Karen Sillas Tom Noonan
Genre : Drama Comedy Romance

Cast List

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Reviews

Fairaher
2018/08/30

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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Lidia Draper
2018/08/30

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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Kaelan Mccaffrey
2018/08/30

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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Curt
2018/08/30

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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gavin6942
2017/08/21

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.

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jamesyoug
2015/05/01

What happened was.... NOTHING. Sixteen minutes in, and the only cool thing that happened was she put this broken thing in a fish tank. Forty minutes later, she's still having dinner with hottie boombalottie, talking about nothing. I'm like halfway through this movie, and it has not even remotely interested me. When they showed the clips of the horror movie, I assumed it may be a horror movie. The only horrifying thing about this movie is how terrible it is. My friend loves it though. I am genuinely surprised that this has as high of a rating on here as it does. Nothing happens. The title is completely misleading. You assume something will happen. Because it SAYS "What happened was"... and you know what happens? Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!! They have dessert after their two hour long dinner!!!!!!!!!!!

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rwint
2004/02/10

6 out of 10 Stupid title belies a otherwise interesting experiment. There are shades of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE here except it's not two men getting together for dinner and conversation it's a man and women on a date. The whole film takes place in the women's apartment and simply follows their date and course of conversation. It scores a bullseye when it comes to modern day dating and all the elements that come with it. Anyone who has done a lot of dating or is heavily into the dating scene will most assuredly relate. These are indeed two very real people. Sillas is a women typical to the dating scene. She is rather plain looking with a boring job and rather dreary overall existence. She looks for a relationship as a way to escape the blandness. Her nervous laughter and gestures are completely on target. Noonan, as her male counterpart, is indeed the culmination of a typical male lost in the dating jungle. He is balding and gawky. He is smart and amiable, but still limited in his interactions. There ninety minute dialogue is both painful and funny. It is clear that these two people, like in a lot of first dates, are in two very different worlds. They never really talk or connect. They try to force something to work that really can't simply to avoid their own loneliness. The concept is terrific, but the overall visual style is not. The color is too washed out and the effect is too grayish and bland. The pacing is all right, but there is a odd segment involving the reading of a childrens story that the Sillas character had written. The story is very ghoulish in nature and seems like something that would not have been written by that type of character. The reading of the story goes on too long and there are some subtly strange supernatural elements that happen during it that doesn't make any sense and certainly doesn't fit with the rest of the picture. Overall though it is a nice try. It can be both entertaining and amusing in it's observations. Yet it's approach is bit too honest and oppressive. It may hit too close too home for some reminding them too much of their own bad dates and their own situation. Viewing this could ultimately become just one big depressing experience.

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DJAkin
2004/01/12

This man is so odd. He was very good in this movie. I was surprised how well he did on this strange first "date". For the most part, the entire movie was shot in some NYC apartment and it was just about these TWO characters talking to eachother in a very awkward and uncomfortable manner. The female lead in this movie was HOT and I could not believe she was attracted to the bizarre looking Tom Noonan!!! Great movie though....for me.

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