Arrivals and departures. That’s mostly what airports are all about, for the most part, except perhaps a cheeky bit of duty free shopping if it’s available; who can resist a giant sized Toblerone?

But there is a third aspect, which features heavily here, and that’s the delay, that can have you take on a zombie-like quality, roaming long stretches of hallways, until a voice from above – an airport announcer, not God – informs you that your plane is finally ready for take-off.

During this time in this film, two people, who were a couple back in the day, cross paths, and take a grounded flight down memory lane.

With snow truly kicking up a storm outside, Bill (David Duchovny) is starting to get the impression his connecting flight isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

As he’s hanging around the airport, he notices Willa (Meg Ryan), a blast from his past he doesn’t necessarily want to re-connect with, but re-connect he does, when she also spots him.

Her flight is also delayed, unsurprisingly, which gives them plenty of time to reflect on their time together, all those years ago, as well as catch up with where their lives are now. As it didn’t necessarily end well, there is an awkwardness to their re-union, but with the weather not letting up any time soon, the pair have no other choice but to confront their past as well as their mistakes and misgivings.

This is only the second film that Ryan has directed, and it’s based on scriptwriter Steven Dietz’s play Shooting Star. As it’s only a two-hander, you can tell its origins were on the stage, but Ryan has a good stab of making it exist within a sprawling airport space.

It would be lazy to define it as a rom-com, as it’s a little darker, and more prickly, than that. The couple have a real history that they find themselves having to confront after all these years, a loving relationship that didn’t survive a few difficult issues. This puts them both in situations of discomfort, but with nowhere to run to, forced to address them once and for all.

Of course it has echoes of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, if Vladimir and Estragon were waiting to board the same delayed plane to Magaluf. There is a third character in play, of sorts, and that’s the airport announcer, who behaves more like a sentient being, which is no wonder he’s played by Hal Ligget, a pseudonym referencing HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey ; with the real identity of the voice used a secret, it’s produced a number of guesses, including Tom Hanks and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, but nothing yet has been confirmed.

It may not be terribly original, but both Ryan and Duchovny do well playing exes, and with creating that energy that comes from being in a relationship with someone. It’s playful and awkward, as they find safe, common ground once again, which sees the pair on a journey of shared nostalgia.

The fact is, there are few and far between films featuring two middle aged characters, trying to come to terms with their past relationship in a sterile environment, and for that alone, it should be commended. They have baggage – emotional that is, both shared and independent of one another, as they attempt to come to terms with what they had and what they were to each other, and where they are now.

It could have just been a zany rom-com set in an airport, but thankfully it’s more than that. It’s surprisingly sophisticated, tackling some tough, grown up issues, and neither does it play to Hollywood conventions.

Sure the directing could have benefitted from a little more finesse, and the script could have been more on the tight side, but it’s still an enjoyable film for grown-ups, which defines the saying, it’s not so much the destination, it’s all about the journey.