Some may think that after writing a full article on arguably Ryan’s three best films, making up her trilogy of work with Nora Ephron, that the best is behind us and why bother dipping into Ryan’s cinematic well again. Well, again, I wished to look at a career as a whole, picking and choosing certain failures and certain successes, to prove once and for all that there really isn’t any film that isn’t made better with Meg Ryan in it. Whenever it comes to recasting for roles I think would be better with a different actress, I always say Ryan, and if it’s a modern film I say “use a time machine and get 80’s Meg Ryan”. So let’s put my theory to the test.
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Top Gun (Dir. Tony Scott, 1986)
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As stupid as it sounds the worst part about Top Gun is the flying scenes, half the time you can’t actually tell what’s going on. For me the best part has always been the characters and the human interactions, especially when concerning Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis, and our star-making role for Ryan as Carole, the beloved wife of Anthony Edward’s Goose. As Carole, Ryan exudes such infectious joy that we immediately fall in love with Carole, and then in turn with Ryan. But as much as this early role delivers us a distilled burst of the high octane happiness that Ryan can offer to a role, it later highlights her immense capability for drama and the portrayal of sadness and loss, when it comes to dealing with Goose’s death later in the film. It may be Cruise’s big scene when he finds out and comes to see Carole, but for me it really is Ryan’s completely. There really is something to be said for the early role that can encapsulate an entire career, and also frankly she may very well have the line of the film. You know what line I’m talking about, because you’re screaming it in your head with that outrageous southern accent. All I have to say is; “Show me the way home, honey!”
Innerspace (Dir. Joe Dante, 1987)
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I could talk about Innerspace all day, and most likely shall on a whole Dante themed article or podcast in the future, however here I want to focus on Ryan to begin with. When we talk about star-making performances in films, we have to address firstly what sort of star they are. For me Ryan epitomises a slightly modern, but deeply old-fashioned ‘girl next door’ chic from a Hollywood yester-year, just fuelled with bursts of intense compulsiveness and believable anxieties. That’s exactly how one could describe her role in Innerspace as Lydia Maxwell. Paired with an astounding Martin Short (the almost secret lead of the film), her performance highlights the best of her romantic, dramatic, action and comedic capabilities as a performer. With her relatively fresh-face in the film, it’s shocking in many ways to note how fully accomplished she already is here as a performer and as a true leading lady. There are many reasons to love the film; Dante’s dynamic direction, the bizarre and frequently hilarious script, the ensemble of brilliant supporting performances, the incredible structuring, the... As I said, there’s a lot. However one of the undeniable main reasons to adore the film is indeed the focus of the article; Meg Ryan. On a personal note also, this was where Ryan met and began her long relationship with Dennis Quaid, and although the chemistry in the film is of course a performance – there is something absolutely undeniable about it and it blazes up the screen every single time they share a moment together, which isn’t very often actually due to the nature of the film being told. Quaid is on absolute top form and it’s only heightened whenever he and Ryan do share those glorious sparks of what will fuel a very lengthy real-life coupling. Innerspace is a truly excellent film and certainly does highlight the best facets of Ryan as a performer and what we shall receive as her career continues to grow and grow.
Prelude to a Kiss (Dir. Norma Rene, 1992)
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Now by all accounts this film should have been a success, despite its bizarre plot and shoddy dialogue. Although it’s not always a recipe for success, the Norman Rene directed Prelude to a Kiss came from a remarkably successful Broadway play by Craig Lucas. I can’t comment on the play’s quality, however I certainly can comment on the quality of the film, or in actuality I can’t, because frankly there isn’t any. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but there isn’t much to rave about, when it comes to this truly bizarre body-switching tale that has been commented on as many as an AIDS parable. Beyond the matter of life and death I can’t really surmise where the element of that terrible disease comes into it, because what we have is a very farcical and frankly plainly un-funny (despite trying oh so very hard to be) romance-drama. The tale follows Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin as Peter and Rita as they fall in love over six months and get married. Pretty simple set-up, Ryan and Baldwin have some great chemistry when the terrible attempts at wit don’t get in the way, which they most often do. The film gets on its own choice of path when at their wedding a dying old man kisses Rita and they switch bodies. An interesting concept perhaps, but one that never truly reaches any sort of interest for this viewer. In regards to Ryan there is something interesting working here, as she plays around with the sort of slapstick character comedy that had previously evaded her in her career. Ryan does some good work portraying the pretty hard task of the old man in her younger body and the multitudes that that could lead to, however everything is a thwarted concept that just doesn’t reach any sort of potential. A very, very early scene features Baldwin and Ryan dancing to the all-time classic song “I Touch Myself” by Divinyls, and although their chemistry in the dancing is clear and the music is great – all it does is set you up for a fall if you think the rest of the film is going to be anywhere near that entertaining.
When a Man Loves a Woman (Dir. Luis Mandoki, 1994)
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Reportedly based on a ream of notes written by Orson Welles, Luis Mandoki’s serious alcoholism drama from a script by Ronald Bass and Al Franken put Ryan in perhaps her best possible position to get Best Actress. I like to think and often comment that she should have won as Sally, in of course When Harry Met Sally, however I think in reality despite the quality of Sally over this, the reality is that the Oscars would be far more comfortable with nominating her for turn as a struggling, then recovering alcoholic. However no nomination was granted and in all honesty I’m surprised, Ryan really does excellent and very textured work here as one half of Michael and Alice Green, the married couple at the heart of this film. With Michael being portrayed by Andy Garcia, whose stirring and excellent chemistry is exemplified by the opening scene which plays more or less like an old screwball farce. Garcia’s work here is also great, but does border into extremes at points where seriously unwarranted, but that is clearly more so an issue with the script (a serious over-reaction in the kitchen with an overturned table comes to mind). Ryan’s drunk acting is pretty superb by all accounts with her ranging from deep rumination to extremely over-zealous wilder antics, all the while imbued by a deep sense of truth. The truth hits home most with her interactions with her daughter in a very, very early role from Mae Whitman. The original cast was Tom Hanks and Debra Winger and although that would be a very good version in its own right, I do feel that this film and the chemistry of Ryan and Garcia propel it from a solid drama to a film with a excellent lead performance and a very propellant and truthful deep study of the pains and troubles of alcoholism, even if the “Everybody Hurts” montage may seem ridiculous nowadays and beyond parody. EDIT: I wrote this before It's a Sin ended with the same song, without a lick of irony. Never liked the song, I have to say, but I am clearly in a minority.
French Kiss (Dir. Lawrence Kasdan, 1995)
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The fact that this was Ryan’s first film as a producer highlights to me her self-awareness at her own greatest strengths. As Kate in Lawrence Kasdan’s’ directing of an Adam Brook’s script, we find a more comedically focussed modernisation of the sort of thieves abroad movie that Hitchcock used to make. However of course one could more clearly link the film to the sort of globe-trotting screwball rom-coms of the 40’s and 50’s, of which it fits in subtly and very well. The fifth of six collaborations between Kasdan and Kevin Kline, the focus is split two ways between Ryan’s hopeless romantic Kate as she flies to France to attempt to rekindle a romance with a shockingly cruel Timothy Hutton, and Kline’s willy and mercurial French deviant Luc. Kline is of course the more obvious standout between the two, with his realistic and mannered, but frequently outrageous French accent, along with his numerous zingers. But Ryan repeatedly surprises us almost with just how incredible she is in the role that I have described so many times in this article before; the absolutely perfect rom-com female lead. Ryan really was at this time America’s sweetheart, in a way that no film star had been in many decades. Her films and persona reminded us of a fashion of star that we hadn’t seen on such a repeatedly perfected scale in some time. I feel as I aforementioned in context of her producing this film that Ryan knew exactly how she was seen by the movie going public and in many ways attempted to subvert this with many of her future film choices. Our next film wasn’t the largest leap from this formula, but it certainly was a step in that direction.
Courage Under Fire (Dir. Edward Zwick, 1996)
This immensely powerful and deeply intriguing war drama follows a traumatised Denzel Washington through a Rashoman style plot as he attempts to uncover the truth behind the death of Meg Ryan’s helicopter pilot Karen Walden, as he investigates the circumstances of her death in possible preparation for her to receive the medal of honour. Although this is undoubtedly Washington’s film, with him delivering a truly sterling performance field with the all the right amounts of emotion and intense drama that have made him the undeniable star that we all adore, the film is almost entirely built around Ryan’s performance, all told through flashback as we see different versions of what occurred on the fateful day of her death following a crash during a rescue attempt. The angles of the story are told in increasingly different and gradually more troubling versions by a collection of stellar actors, such as Matt Damon and Lou Diamond Phillips, who both give complex and dimensional turns as not only the characters reflecting upon their past, but also the many different versions that they present of themselves. At the core of Edward Zwick’s very well directed filming of Patrick Sheane Duncan’s incredible script is the character of Captain Karen Walden, and hence Ryan. Ryan’s performance is hardly one of subtlety for the most part, with her adopting a broad southern accent and having to scream military jargon for long stretches of her dialogue, however in the quieter moments and frequently in the moments without lines – Ryan finds an immense strength to be the focus that this brilliant film anchors itself to. Without an actress of such heart and emotion like Ryan at the core of this film, I do believe that it simply wouldn’t work anywhere near as well as it does.
Addicted to Love (Dir. Griffin Dunne, 1997)
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Ryan was certainly the queen of the rom-com for a very long time, so I guess it’s only right that she would be the star of the weirdest and most bizarre rom-com I honestly believe I have ever seen and most likely will ever see. And for those of you wondering, I know there isn’t a single one of you who is; the Rear Window of rom-coms does exist and its name is Addicted to Love. This absolutely bonkers film repeatedly tops itself with its weirdness to an absurd level, it actually got to a certain point at the 30 minute mark where I was genuinely amazed that the film was succeeding in doubling down on its truly horrifically misjudged concept and repeated attempts at humour and romance. The film is the amalgamation of American Werewolf in London actor Griffin Dunne’s directorial debut, with a kinetic energy that never makes the film boring, and the debut screenplay of Galaxy Quest writer Robert Gordon, whose constantly left-turn taking script leads us down an ever winding road of nonsense and despicable characters all searching for some form of love or revenge. Ryan fits into all this as a scorned ex-fiancé used and ditched by a French restaurateur for a visa. Enough plot for a film on its own, but this is only the subplot to the main plotline of Mathew Broderick as a similarly scorned and cuckolded astronomer who travels to New York and begins stalking from across the street his ex Kelly Preston as she embarks on a romance with Ryan’s Frenchman. It genuinely is nuts in a way that I haven’t seen in a long time, but it’s never boring like so many bad films can be and its certainly entertaining, whether your enjoying some of the insane plot choices, evil characters or fleeting moments of genuinely enjoyable zaniness. It’s Woody Allen on acid and it’s a great ride, and Ryan is pretty great in a sort of role we haven’t seen from her yet in this article and at that point in her career. As I say, it’s a nutty one, but it’s certainly a fun one.
Hanging Up (Dir. Diane Keaton, 2000)
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The amount of sheer talent involved with Hanging Up, you’d think it could very well have ended up as the Citizen Kane of family dramas – this, was of course not the case. It’s not that Hanging Up is bad, as matter of fact I was quite surprised by how good it was to say that it doesn’t really have either a particularly good or bad reputation, however it all just feels a little bit like Ephron-lite. The film does come from a Nora Ephron script, with her co-writing with her sister Delia, based upon Delia’s own novel. The script is a perfectly dynamic and touching saga of three sisters reflecting and coming to terms with their father’s deteriorating state – a perfect plot ripe for the exact sort of brand of human comedy and heartfelt drama that the Ephron’s as writers are best at. The film is actually directed by one of its stars and one of our greatest actresses, Dianne Keaton. For as much as Keaton is a brilliant actress, it’s clear that her greatest strength as a director with this film is allowing the dialogue to be delivered in the best way it can be. It’s a great trait for a director to have, but in this case it seems to be the only one in her arsenal. The main trio of sisters consist of Ryan, Keaton and Lisa Kudrow, who all deliver consistent and interesting performances, but certainly not the best that any of them have ever offered us. The slowly dying father is portrayed by a very, very ill Walter Matthau in his final role. Despite his state, Matthau repeatedly brings to the screen the talent of yester-year and all the pain and humour that he was known to bring to the screen so easily. For as much as I am a huge fan of Keaton and Kudrow, it is completely clear that this is Ryan’s film. Ryan brings the heart and humanity that make this film succeed on the infrequent times that it absolutely does work without any issue. It’s the rare moment, but the moments are there.
Proof of Life (Dir. Taylor Hackford, 2000)
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Proof of Life is an exceptional thriller directed by Taylor Hackford, with an incredible script from Tony Gilroy, taut and entertaining in all the right ways. The film is stacked with exceptional supporting performances at all turns, ranging from the absurdly entertaining David Caruso to the pained and emotionally turbulent David Morse. Russell Crowe leads with a subtlety brilliant turn highlighting all his best qualities as a performer, his deftness, his anger, his internal playing with both. Ryan here also excels in the human drama and romance at the heart of the film, the propellant and almost invisible love triangle that propels us through this incredibly original story of love, intrigue and violence. So why is it not really talked about? Well the answer is that it of course is, but only in one context. This was the film where Ryan met Crowe and began a romantic relationship behind the scenes, with her divorcing Quaid the following year. This unfortunately mired the films reputation, with director Hackford even commenting that he believed it affected the film’s reputation. The film was plagued by an immense amount of tragedies and troubles beyond this backstage romance; with multiple volcano eruptions, multiple hailstorms, multiple mudslides and even the unfortunate death of David Morse’ stunt double in a freak accident. Despite all of this the film still stands as a vital and dynamic piece of film that I feel has grown very underrated over time, not that it was well rated to begin with. Crowe and Ryan are obviously both consummate professionals and their performances can in no way be commented on as purely indicative of what occurred behind the scenes – however they do have an immense amount of chemistry in this film, leading to the film’s great final moments, with Crowe’s subtle facial changes telling us a story all until to its own. The film also features some of Ryan’s best dramatic work, particularly in her intimate scenes with Morse earlier in the film and Crowe later in it. The romance of Crowe and Ryan didn’t last long, but this film with a reprising of interest very well may.
In the Cut (Dir. Jane Campion, 2003)
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We conclude this list with a bit of a continuation of the theme of Ryan trying to distance herself from her classic “America’s sweetheart” persona, with her appearing here in Jane Campion’s sultry and downright dirty murder thriller In the Cut. I’ll just be plainly honest, the manner in which this film is directed by Campion is intensely infuriating to me, with her focus on muddying the frame just leading to an overly messy and frankly annoying feature. However at the heart of the film is a terrific turn from Ryan, utilising almost none of her classic charms, and making a character wholly believable and complex as she traverses the sultry, sexual and violent world the film places us into. Ryan spends most of her time in the film contemplating the properness of her relationship with Mark Ruffalo’s detective, before then turning to contemplate whether or not he was the very murderer that began the investigation that led to the two meeting in the first place. As aforementioned, the film is grimy, loosely edited and spends its time on artistic flourishes that come off as obtuse and completely irrelevant to the tale being told. It was clear that artsy Campion felt that she needed to elevate the cheap and pulpy plot of Susanna Moore’s’ novel, however in the process of doing this she has in many ways butchered an otherwise very serviceable erotic thriller. Campion’s focus should have clearly been more so on Ryan, for she really truly is the film’s best asset by far.
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Ok, so some films are just bad. And Meg Ryan is bad in some films too. But if there is one thing that can always be said for this shining star in the Hollywood galaxy, it’s that smile. Ryan truly never fails to light up a screen on first entry. That pure charisma and beauty has never been tampered and I wish we had hit in more films again. A Ryan renaissance certainly wouldn’t go amiss in this critics’ books.
- - Thomas Carruthers
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