What the Hell Happened to Meg Ryan?

[TMC]

http://lebeauleblog.com/2011/06/12/what-the-hell-happened-to-meg-ryan/

Posted by lebeau

Once upon a time, Meg Ryan sat at the top of the A-list. Her nearest
competitor was Julia Roberts. She was America’s Sweetheart. Now, she
seems to be retired after years of direct-to-video schlock. It’s time
to ask that age-old question: What the hell happened?

Before I get started talking about our latest inductee, let me share a
few insights that have come from writing this column. One thing I set
out to do was to alternate between male and female subjects. But what
has become apparent to me is that there are a lot more washed-up
actresses than there are leading men.

With the men, Hollywood seems to be a lot more forgiving. They’ll
keep giving an actor like Matthew Modine leading roles even if he
never has a hit. Heck, Modine just appeared in The Dark Knight Rises
after years of obscurity.

An aging action star like Sean Connery can keep acting to a ripe old
retirement. It’s actually hard to find actors who truly ruled the A-
list only to see it all disappear. Actresses, on the other hand, are
easier to find.

Another guiding principle I have tried to abide by with this column is
to write about actors and actresses I genuinely liked. At one point
or another, I was a fan of everyone I’ve written about so far with the
possible exception of Mena Suvari. Nothing against Suvari, she just
didn’t stick around long enough to make an impression. But thanks for
inspiring this column, Mena!

I was definitely a Meg Ryan fan. I developed a school boy crush on
her after seeing Innerspace and I remained a fan up until at least
Sleepless in Seattle. When everyone else started getting on the Meg
Ryan train, that’s when I started getting off.

Like a lot of What the Hell Happened stars, she got a big break early
on. After working in soaps, Ryan appeared the wife of the doomed
fighter pilot, Goose in Top Gun. It was a small part, but Ryan was
winning in it. Everyone remembered the charismatic pixie girl from
the few scenes she was in.

Unfortunately, it would set the stage for her career failure as Top
Gun also helped launch the career of Val Kilmer. And Kilmer is a
career black hole. Once you are within his gravitational pull, there
is no escape. Just ask Elisabeth Shue.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Ryan’s next significant role was in 1987′s Innerspace. This is
significant for a number of reasons. One, it marked the start of my
aforementioned boyhood crush. But probably more importantly, it
introduced Meg Ryan to Dennis Quaid.

The next year, Ryan appeared in two thrillers. In DOA, she starred
opposite Quaid. In The Presidio, she starred with Mark Harmon.
Remember when Mark Harmon starred in actual movies? No? Well, it
didn’t last long. That’s why I’m never going to write up What the
Hell Happened to Mark Harmon. Sorry, Mark.

1989 was the big year. When Harry Met Sally… was the movie that would
make Ryan an A-lister. The movie was really a pretty shameless update
of Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and Manhattan but dumbed down for mass
consumption. Still, it was a romantic comedy with real laughs. And
Ryan got the biggest laughs of all with her infamous fake orgasm
scene.

Ryan followed up When Harry Met Sally… by teaming up with Tom Hanks
for the first time. No, it wasn’t the smash hit, Sleepless in
Seattle. It was the box office bomb, Joe Vs. the Volcano.

For years after Joe Vs. the Volcano, Hanks joked about it as the
moment when he knew he had to get his career back on track. The movie
is pretty universally dismissed.

But I have a confession to make. I positively loved Joe Vs. the
Volcano when it came out. I watched it whenever I was bummed about
something for quite a few years. A big part of the appeal was seeing
Meg Ryan in three different roles that mirrored Hank’s character’s
existential journey.

Plus, I still thought she was a cutie.

But seriously, give Joe Vs. the Volcano another look. It’s not as bad
as everyone says.

Oh crap! What’s Val Kilmer doing here? Meg look out! He’s going to
suck you into his own personal career hell!

Meg sealed her career fate by appearing opposite Kilmer in Oliver
Stone’s The Doors. The Doors wasn’t actually a career killer. But it
sure didn’t do Ryan any favors. All the buzz was about Kilmer’s
electrifying performance as Jim Morrison. But all Ryan got to do was
flash the camera briefly and look annoyed at Kilmer’s escalating
antics.

Around this time, Meg Ryan, “America’s Sweetheart”, married Dennis
Quaid. The fact that they had been a couple since 1987 made them
something of a rarity in Hollywood. While Quaid wasn’t quite on
Hollywood’s power list, Quaid and Ryan were one of Hollywood’s power
couples.

Remember that. It’ll be important later.

In 1992, Ryan starred in Prelude to a Kiss which has one of the
weirdest premises ever. Ryan plays a newlywed who switches bodies
with an old man Freaky Friday-style.

Before you know it, Alec Baldwin is kissing Ryan in the old man’s
body. Like I said, it’s an odd movie. But it starred two of the most
beautiful people in the world. Look at them. Do you really care what
the movie was about?

In 1993, Ryan re-teamed with two of her leading men. She made the
Southern Gothic drama, Flesh and Bone with her husband, Dennis
Quaid. And she made the cutesy Nora Ephron-directed romantic comedy
Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks. Guess which one was more
popular.

I didn’t have a lot ot say about Flesh and Bone when I first wrote
this article. Like most people, I hadn’t seen it. But thanks to
friend of the blog, Paul, over at Pfeiffer Pfilms and Meg Movies, I
finally tracked it down. Paul has posted a passionate review of Flesh
and Bone which will have you running out to the video store to rent
it.

While I don’t love the movie as much as he does, it’s definitely worth
a look. Especially if you’re a Meg Ryan fan. It definitely makes you
wonder about the career she could have had.

Sleepless in Seattle was so big, it made everyone forget all about
Hanks and Ryan appearing together in the criminally underrated Joe Vs.
the Volcano (I know, I know. No one else likes it). And it cemented
Ryan’s status as Hollywood’s go-to girl for romantic comedies.
Unfortunately, without Hanks, Ryan would struggle to repeat the
success of Sleepless.

Ryan followed up the schmaltz of Sleepless with a good performance as
an alcoholic in When a Man Loves a Woman. This film marks a departure
for Ryan. Her girl-next-store image was put to the test in a role
that required her to slap her kid!

Also in 1994, Meg Ryan appeared in IQ with Tim Robbins. IQ seems like
a harmless romantic comedy. But in retrospect, I’m going to call this
the beginning of the end for Ryan. The movie has what could have been
a fun premise, but it never rises above mediocrity. And Ryan and
Robbins have no chemistry on the screen together.

What made Meg Ryan a star in Hollywood was her ability to reliably
open romantic comedies. A movie like IQ was supposed to be a grand
slam for a star of Ryan’s magnitude. But IQ opened at an embarrassing
11th place and grossed a paltry 26 million world wide.

Hollywood will forgive an occasional speed bump like IQ as long as a
star shows they can still deliver the goods. The problem is, Ryan
continued to crank out mediocre low-performers like IQ.

Ryan’s next film was another romantic comedy. French Kiss with Kevin
Kline actually represented a comeback for Ryan in terms of box
office. The film grossed over 100 million which was very good for a
romantic comedy. Especially in 1995.

Personally, I think the movie is a mess. I won’t even bother trying
to summarize the convoluted plot. I’ll just note that not even the
brilliant Kevin Kline could save this movie for me.

Also, it’s worth noting that Ryan’s characters in these romantic
comedies become progressively less likable with each picture. She
essentially plays the same quirky control freak she played winningly
in When Harry Met Sally… But each time the quirks and neurosis get
pushed just a little bit further and Ryan’s performance becomes a
little more shrill.

Ryan’s next two films were both attempts to pull away from the
romantic comedy genre. In 1995, she made the art house film
Restoration which was largely ignored. And in 1996, she appeared in
Courage Under Fire.

Courage Under Fire stars Denzel Washington as a man assigned to
investigate whether or not Meg Ryan’s character should become the
first woman to receive the Medal of Honor. As Washington interviews
the eye witnesses, we see Ryan’s character through their eyes.
Sometimes she is portrayed as super human. Other times she is seen as
a coward.

The film did so-so at the box office and got mostly positive reviews.
But much like The Doors, most of the accolades went to others. The
film helped cement Denzel Washington as a star and Matt Damon first
gained attention for a small role as a gaunt wounded soldier.

In 1997, Meg Ryan returned to romantic comedies with Addicted to
Love. The film attempted to be darker than the usual Meg Ryan rom
com. But audiences rejected Ryan and co-star Matthew Broderick as a
mean-spirited couple who fall in love while stalking their exes.

This is another Ryan film I have yet to see. But Paul has piqued my
interest. I’ll definitely be tracking it down. He makes it sound
much better than most reviews I have read.

Ryan also did voice-over work in the animated film Anastasia. The
movie was a base hit at the box office which didn’t really help or
hurt Ryan’s career.

1998 was Meg Ryan’s last hoorah. She started off the year with City
of Angels in which her character is essentially stalked by a creepy
angel played by Nicholas Cage.

Cage’s angel falls in love with Ryan and eventually gives up eternal
life. It’s a romantic melodrama every bit as over-the-top as it
sounds. But it connected with audiences and was a smash hit at the
box office.

It also introduced America to the Goo Goo Dolls. So, thanks for that.

Also in 1998, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan paired up again for the last time
with You’ve Got Mail.

If you loved Sleepless in Seattle, you’ll probably like the AOL
commercial/romantic comedy, You’ve Got Mail. YGM repeats the formula
of SiS to lesser effect. But like Sleepless, Mail was a box office
smash that should have cemented Ryan’s spot at the top of the A-list
for at least a few more years to come.

Only, it didn’t work out that way…

Ryan’s next film was anther Nora Ephron production. Hanging Up cast
Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow as sisters who bond over the
death of their estranged father played by Walter Matthau. The movie
hoped to repeat the success of Keaton’s The First Wives Club. But
instead, it was panned by critics and ignored at the box office.

Then Proof of Life happened. Or more specifically, Russel Crowe
happened. The movie they starred in was mostly overlooked in the
media coverage of the couple’s affair.

By this point, Ryan had been married to Dennis Quaid for 10 years, an
eternity in Hollywood. She was America’s sweetheart and as far as
America knew, she and Quaid were living the American dream.

So when reports showed Ryan cheating on Quaid with her co-star,
America basically went bat-shit crazy.

You’d have thought that Ryan was cheating on America rather than her
husband. Her image as America’s sweetheart was utterly shattered.

When the couple broke up, America cheered at Ryan’s humiliation and
seeming karmic retribution as word spread that Crowe dumped her. Ryan
later clarified that she dumped Crowe. But by that point, no one
cared. America had dumped Meg Ryan.

In 2001, Ryan retreated back into familiar romantic comedy territory
with Kate and Leopold. Hugh Jackman was hot off playing Wolverine in
X-Men. But audiences weren’t ready to see Meg Ryan as “America’s
Sweetheart” again. And the film bombed.

Ryan took a couple years off to lick her wounds. Her next film was
2003′s erotic thriller In the Cut which co-starred Jennifer Jason
Leigh and Mark Ruffalo.

In the Cut was directed by Jane Campion who was best known for The
Piano. Campion had developed In the Cut with Nicole Kidman. However,
when Kidman dropped out due to her divorce from Tom Cruise, Ryan took
her place.

In the Cut was a drastic departure for Ryan in many ways. There is
nothing romantic or comedic about it. It is an extremely raw film
with lots of sex and gruesome violence. But at this point in her
career, Ryan had nothing to loose.

In the Cut generated some attention over Ryan’s nudity. But mostly,
it was seen as another opportunity to kick Ryan while she was down.
In the Cut became a punchline to the few who had heard of it.

Which is a shame, because Ryan’s performance is really impressive. It
hints at what might have been had audiences embraced her attempts to
break free of rom coms.

Overseas, Ryan did an interview with famed English TV personality, Sir
Michael “Parky” Parkinson. Most of us here in the States, had no idea
this was going on. But the interview was a train wreck. Even today,
it is a legend in England.

In 2004, Ryan got what would prove to be her last chance to re-invent
herself in her post-scandal career. The aptly titled Against the
Ropes was a boxing movie starring Ryan as a boxing manager.

The film was largely panned for being a string of boxing movie
clichés. Ryan’s last chance bombed at the box office and she was
banished to the career hell that is direct-to-video movies.

But this story has an epilogue. At the peak of her career, Ryan
became attached to a remake of the 1939 film, The Women. The script
for the remake was written in 1993 by Murphy Brown creator, Diane
English. Originally, The Women was going to feature an all-star
female cast including Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts.

However, production on The Women stalled out when Ryan and Roberts
both wanted the same role. After 15 years of struggles to get the
film made, just about every actress in Hollywood was attached at one
point.

When The Women finally got released in 2008, English directed the
movie herself and Meg Ryan was involved without Julia Roberts.

The Women was savaged by critics. It opened at #4 at the box office
and served as the final nail in the coffin of Meg Ryan’s career.

So, what the hell happened? How did the queen of romantic comedies in
the late 80′s and all through the 90′s wind up making direct-to-video
schlock like 2008′s My Mom’s New Boyfriend?

There’s no doubt that the Proof of Life controversy had a lot to do
with it. In spite of the fact that Ryan and Quaid’s marriage had all
but ended by the time she hooked up with Crowe, she was branded with a
scarlet letter that ruined her public image.

I don’t think such a scandal would be so devestating to another
actress, but Ryan’s entire career was built on the idea that she was
the wholesome girl-next-store. Once that was gone, audiences wanted
nothing to do with her.

Although Ryan made several attempts to stretch beyond the romantic
comedies that were her bread-and-butter, audiences never fully
embraced Ryan as anything but a romantic interest. Whether or not it
was an issue of range is debatable. Either way, she was unable to win
over audiences in dramatic roles.

And then there’s the issue of age. Age is cruel to Hollywood starlets
which is why there are so many more washed up actresses to choose
from. Perhaps Ryan’s career would have dried up even without the
Proof of Life controversy as audiences moved on to younger starlets
like the current crop of rom com divas.

Finally, Meg Ryan has tried to fight off aging with some rather
unfortunate plastic surgery. You have to think aging gracefully would
have been better than this!

Word is Ryan is making a move behind the camera to start a career as a
director. Hopefully, this will be the start of a new career for
Ryan. Because her career as a movie star appears to be over.

[Michael OConnor]

Two things ruined her career: (1) she hit her 40's, when unfortunately
few actresses (Meryl Streep excepted) are able to remain a big star
and (2) ruining her reputation as nice and likable by dumping Dennis
Quaid for a short fling with co-star Russell Crowe, as America would
never accept her again in those romantic comedy roles like "Sleepless
in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail". She was a good actress but didn't
have the acting chops to continue in feature films in character roles.

[Obveeus]

"Michael OConnor" <mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:
> Two things ruined her career: (1) she hit her 40's,

...and proceeded to have lots of awful plastic surgery.

[RichA]

On Dec 5, 7:31 am, "Obveeus" <Obve...@aol.com> wrote:

> "Michael OConnor" <mpoconn...@aol.com> wrote:
> > Two things ruined her career: (1) she hit her 40's,
>
> ...and proceeded to have lots of awful plastic surgery.

Makes you wonder why people with huge amounts of money end up
mutilated. You'd think they could afford decent surgeons.