71
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrWhat Happened Was nails contemporary isolation as few films do. It's filled with acute insights and observations of the wary yet hopeful circling that people do in conversation on a first date. It's a gem of a chamber play. [17 Sep 1994, p.37]
- 83The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubA haunting, expressionistic portrait of two lonely souls who have reached out for companionship and instead found themselves on a proving ground, where they are mercilessly denuded of their protective lies and self-deception.
- 78Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleWhat Happened Was … dissects the interminable hopefulness of dating. Noonan, who also wrote the script, has an ear for believable dialogue, and Sillas (Simple Men, Risk) allows every conceivable emotion to ripple across her face, which is a landscape unto itself.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliFor something billed as a lightweight romantic comedy, What Happened Was... wades through some surprisingly deep waters.
- 75Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThe movie (written and directed by Noonan), which took the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, is not as profound as the festival laurels imply. But when all is said and said, the fate of this relationship -- left hanging as the movie ends -- becomes a matter of compelling significance.
- 70VarietyEmanuel LevyVarietyEmanuel LevyOff-Broadway actor Tom Noonan, best known for his offbeat, crazy and villainous roles on stage and screen, emerges as a talented writer and director in What Happened Was, an intriguing, often mysterious drama about a date between two lonely misfits.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertWhat Happened Was... is in many ways an admirable movie, and Noonan and Sillas do a quiet, thorough job of representing these two people who seem on the edge of being walled up inside their own walls. There are many small moments of perfect observation. But I never really felt they were building to anything, or heading anywhere.
- 60The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinIn performance, as in the rest of this film, Mr. Noonan only haltingly captures what he seeks.
- 50Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyAn uneventful actors' exercise better suited to off-off-Broadway theater.
- It’s hard to believe that these two people, so dissimilar in every way, would be attracted to each other in the first place. It’s even harder to listen to the drone of the numbingly unsympathetic Michael (Noonan, also the movie’s writer and director). When there are only two characters on screen, you’d better rouse concern for both so your viewer is not fatally tempted by the stop button.