''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 produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

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 Dolarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), Cain in ''RoboCop 2'' (1990), The ...

.The 10 Most Underrated American Independent Films of The 1990s - Page 2 - Taste of Cinema
/ref> It is an adaptation of Noonan's original stage play of the same name.

Premise

The film depicts two people, played by

Karen Sillas Karen Sillas is an American stage and film actress. Early life The daughter of a Greek father and a Swedish mother, Sillas was born in Brooklyn. She graduated from the Acting Conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase. Car ...

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-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, and Stephen Wang ...

. 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 American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's d ...

'' show,

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

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 critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, 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 favourite of filmmaker

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial de ...

Year-end lists

* 10th – Todd Anthony, ''

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'' * 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 Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' * Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

Accolades

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

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

.'What Happened Was,' 'Freedom on My Mind' Win Top Honors at Sundance Festival
/ref> 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. ...

References

External links

* *
Official trailer
on

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{{end 1994 films American independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films The Samuel Goldwyn Company films 1994 independent films American films based on plays 1990s American films