In this surprisingly dark romantic comedy, the usually sweetness-and-light Meg Ryan stars as a vengeful ex-girlfriend who spends her waking hours thinking up ways of making life hell for the man who dumped her (Tcheky Karyo). This involves teaming up with the more strait-laced Matthew Broderick, whose childhood sweetheart has dumped him for Meg's ex. It's an almost vindictive tale of love gone sour from actor-turned-director Griffin Dunne (best known as the harassed lead in Martin Scorsese's After Hours), with an enjoyably acidic bite that's often missing from films of this ilk.

Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.