What Happened Was...

Minnie and Moskowitz meets My Dinner with Andre. Michael is intelligent, sensitive and shy, but deceitful and a bit of a narcissist. Jackie is warm and candid if a bit simple-minded and very eccentric. Their little date is hardly a match made in heaven, but the characters are masterfully drawn. Their portrayal is often hilarious but sympathetic, without an iota of cynicism. One of the finest cinematic duets I've seen.

You could lop the first 10 minutes off this without changing anything. The opening feels like killing time to reach 90 minutes, but what follows is an excellent 80-minute drama. Noonan and Silas are both fantastic, not to mention the impressive work Noonan does behind the camera. The big drawback to me is that the characters become their most interesting selves at the very end, and so much unexplored potential is left on the table. I wish the ending probed deeper into all that baggage

The last 10 minutes elevates this to an emotional level I was not expecting. Talk about earning it. What a payoff.

Tom Noonan's always been a heartbreaker.

I think I laughed more at the scene of Jackie reading her book than any scene in a movie. Dunno if there's a more simple on the outside intricate on the inside movie (except maybe Melvin Goes to Dinner). Completely gets what it means to not know what you're doing with your life. The facade we put on for different people. Just everything about loneliness. Burn your scripts it's all been done.

In which Sammy Barnathan and the abortion clinic nurse from Trust (and a bunch of other Hal Hartley movies) have a really, really awkward date. Yeah, obviously I'm gonna love this. So much cringe-y greatness. It's basically like Bleak Moments with two actors i really like (i can definitely see why it's a Ray Carney favorite), which helps overcome the inevitable theatricality of it. I mean it basically feels like a filmed play but it totally works.

good movie

An impressively written and very thoughtful one-location character piece that studies loneliness, anxiety, and the inability to be honest with anybody including oneself. Which means that it should have really spoken to me, because I'm an anxiety-ridden little mess. And while it did resonate with me, it didn't hit me quite as hard as it does others. I did enjoy the performances, though, and the tonal shift was pulled off extremely well. Definitely worth checking out, if you can stand it.

A heartbreaking treatise on loneliness. Dating was awful even before the internet, and Noonan and Sillas nail all those moments of anxiety, grace, and spikiness.

one of the best play adaptations ever. it's so intimate, heartbreaking (as kaufman says), and thoughtful.

Gradual shedding of fakeness. Honesty is often a little awkward and this is as honest as it gets.

Decent for a one-location movie but it struggles to really lift off at any point, despite a few quiet highlights.

The smaller moments are much better than the bigger, louder ones.

One of the best movies I've seen in a while. "Just go home Michael. It'll be okay in the morning."

A truly incredible display of awkwardness. It starts off as a date filled with nervous tension, but as the conversation flows and the evening unfolds the mood overwhelms the entire film. At times it feels too deliberate and self conscious, but it reins itself in just enough for one final explosive ending.

So many awkward chuckles to be had.