''What Happened Was...'' is a 1994 American

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

written for the screen, directed by and starring

Tom Noonan Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Francis Dollarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), Cain in '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), ...

. It is an adaptation of Noonan's original stage play of the same name.

Premise

The film depicts two people, played by Karen Sillas and Tom Noonan, on a first date; their conversation gradually reveals their lonely lives and hidden personalities.

Reception

''What Happened Was...'' has an overall approval rating of 91% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. On the ''

Siskel & Ebert Gene Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) and Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013), collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were an American film critic duo known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siske ...

'' show,

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

gave the film a thumbs up, stating that "For what is really just one long night of conversation, the stakes and the tension couldn't be any higher if these were two characters having a more conventional action scene."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, however, gave the film a thumbs down, calling it "Contrived" and stating that "There is a lot less here than meets the eye." The film is a favorite of filmmaker

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. Having first come to prominence for writing ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation (film), Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sun ...

. It opened at the

Angelika Film Center Angelika Film Center is a movie theater chain in the United States that features independent and foreign films. It operates theaters in New York City, Texas, Washington, D.C., California, and Virginia. Its headquarters are in New York City. ...

in Manhattan on September 9, 1994 and grossed $22,973 in its opening week.

Year-end lists

* 10th – Todd Anthony, ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

'' * Top 9 (not ranked) – Dan Webster, ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Jimmy Fowler, ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' * "The second 10" (not ranked) – Sean P. Means, ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'' * Honorable mention – Howie Movshovitz, ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'' * Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, ''

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Accolades

It won the Grand Jury Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1994

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Noonan was nominated for Best First Screenplay and Karen Sillas for Best Female Lead at the

10th Independent Spirit Awards The 10th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1994, were announced on March 25, 1995. Hosted by Kevin Pollak, it was the second ceremony to be held under a tent in a parking lot on the beach in Santa Monica. W ...

Planned sequel

Noonan wrote a sequel, which he pitched to both

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

, but it never came to fruition. Noonan and Silas were to have reprised their roles, and the film would have also co-starred

Louis C.K. Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, actor and filmmaker. C.K. has won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Act ...

and

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and film producer. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for portraying Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the '' Fast & Furious'' fra ...

References

External links

*
Official trailer
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Sundance Grand Jury Prize Dramatic 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1994 films 1994 independent films 1994 romantic comedy-drama films American films based on plays American independent films American romantic comedy-drama films English-language independent films English-language romantic comedy-drama films The Samuel Goldwyn Company films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films