I thought it was actually correct re McGilis and wrong re Ryan since her charachter's son was a major character and she stood to lose both son and husband. KM hadn't been in the business for years, yes, has health problems and didn't have much interest. AND her charachter was not really written as a long-term one. She was supposed to help deliver this sort of spark-flying odd couple and she more or less did. And that was it. Kilmer had repeatedly asked to be in these films, even when he was still sick. The others hadn't shown interest, Meg Ryan has also been mostly behind the camera lately, and is good at it.

This film was a lot better than the first, had a great moment with Cruise and Kilmer, excellent supporting cast from Connely on down, who had a lot of chemistry with Cruise, and had some nice escapist scenery. I also liiked that there was no real politics in this and it was pretty.

I'm not sure what movie you watched but I''m not convinced it was this one. It kinds of sounds like your objections were more about your personal feelings than the film itself.