.Ryan’s Song

When Meg met Saroyan

Nearly 30 years later, “I’ll have what she’s having” remains one of the funniest movie lines ever delivered, from the Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal vehicle When Harry Met Sally . . .

Since that 1989 rom-com hit—which found the Golden Globe–winning Ryan famously faking an orgasm at Katz’s Delicatessen in New York City (they still have a placard on the table where she and Crystal sat)—the actress has gone on to all sorts of other leading-lady roles, and last year made her directorial debut with Ithaca, based on the William Saroyan novel The Human Comedy.

Ryan’s film will unspool at this year’s Sonoma International Film Festival, which kicks off March 30 and runs through April 4. She’ll be on hand as the festival’s honored guest on this, the 19th year of the SIFF, and will be the recipient of its Sonoma Salute Award during a ceremony on March 31. She directed and appears in the film, which also stars Tom Hanks, Sam Shepard and Ryan’s son, Jack Quaid. Her ex-boyfriend John Mellencamp provided the soundtrack—before she broke up with him last June (according to the National Enquirer).

Ithaca centers around the fictional town of Ithaca, Calif.—said to be inspired by Fresno—during World War II. It’s a coming-of-age story that had previously been made into a film in 1943 that starred Mickey Rooney.

Festival organizers are naturally psyched to highlight Ryan this year; she has starred in a bunch of blockbuster films, some with Hanks, that include Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. You can’t fake that kind of greatness. Go to sonomafilmfest.org for
more info.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

spot_img
North Bay Bohemian E-edition North Bay Bohemian E-edition