Schlaflos in Seattle

I will not lie to you, I will admit right from the off that I am biased. I love this movie.

Plot In A Paragraph: Eighteen months after losing his wife, Sam (Tom Hanks) is still grieving and can't sleep. His eight year old son Jonah (Ross Malinger) misses his mother, but he wants his father to get a new wife despite Sam having not even contemplated dating again. On Christmas Eve, Jonah calls a national radio talk show and ask for a "new wife" for his Dad. Sam ends up pouring his heart out about his magical and perfect marriage to his late wife, and how much he still misses her. Among the many women who hear Sam's story and fall in love with him solely because of it is Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) a Baltimore-based newspaper writer. Who is drawn to Jim based on his story, despite already being engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman)

1993 was a massive year for Tom Hanks with both this movie and "Philadelphia" being huge hits. Both are very different, but are equally brilliant. As is Hanks. He is heartbreakingly excellent as the widower. Amazingly the role of Annie was originally offered to Julia Roberts, who turned it down. Kim Basinger also turned it down because she thought the premise was ridiculous (Good move Kim!!) After Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jodie Foster all declined as well, Meg Ryan landed the role. I surprised this role was not wrote with Ryan in mind as this type of role was her bread and butter back then. She was perfect for this type of role.

Rosie O Donnell is solid support to Ryan as is Bill Pullman, and Ross Malinger manages to avoid all the cliché's of most chicks actors!

Well directed, with a sharp and witty script. I will add I also liked the fact that they didn't feel the need to make the Bill Pullman character a jerk (as is usual the case with his type of role in romantic comedies)

One of my favourite Tom Hanks movies, one of my favourite Meg Ryan movies and one of my favourite romantic comedies. I don't own many romantic comedies. But this one is in my collection.

The movies are full of alternate universes and maybes that make them a great escape. Sleepless In Seattle is a great romantic comedy. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in a movie where they are hardly onscreen together and yet we feel both of their characters infatuation. It's an amazing job that director Nora Ephron does in making us care about the relationship between these two characters when their not hardly together onscreen. The movie also has great performances, from the leads and from supporting players Rosie O'Donnell and Rob Reiner, as well as a very goofy but sweet turn from Bill Pullman. This movie will make you feel good.

A story about a man who wife passed away and he is lonely so his child takes over his Dad's life and tries to hook up dear old dad through the personals,, meanwhile on the other side of the country , a young woman listens to a radio show , and their is a caller, called Sleepless in Seattle,, she is drawn to him , so she figures out where he lives,, hops on a plane and tracks him down,, somehow she misses him at the Airport and the meeting is put off for now,, Rosie O' Donnell isn't bad in this,, Bill Pullman is in this,, and Meg Ryan plays opposite Tom Hanks,, not a bad movie,, there are a few shortcomings,, but they can be easily overlooked if you're looking for a feel good story with a decent ending,,,

It's Christmas and Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) has just announced her engagement to her long time boyfriend Walter (Bill Pullman). She and Walter drive in their separate cars to his parents' house. On the way there she listens to a radio show in which a widower (Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin) talks about how much he misses his dead wife and how he doesn't think he'll ever find anyone else he cares about that much.

Annie is instantly obsessed. She hires a private detective agency to find out all of the details about this guy. She actually travels to Seattle, where he lives, from Baltimore, where she lives, just to chicken out at the last minute as far as introducing herself, and instead stand in the street and stare at him - Sam stares back -before turning tail and running. Turn the sexes around on these two and this would become a creepy stalker movie.

During the movie, it seems that Walter's only flaw is having severe allergies and the main flaws in the woman Hanks' character is dating is that she flicks her hair and that she has an annoying laugh. But that's the thing - if you are involved with and deep down feel saddled with somebody you don't really love, the small flaws become huge.

And fundamentally it's a movie about not settling for a passionless relationship. Say what you will about knowing that relationships require time and effort, it doesn't change the fact that there is nothing morally redeeming about marrying a guy because he's adequately nice and you can get along with him more or less. Who wants to be the person another person settles for? No one. Pullman's Walter even says as much when he gives up without a fight at the end. He'll make a good partner for someone who actually loves him and sees past the allergies.

Nora Ephron, the writer, admitted that the movie is ridiculous and unlikely and has this dumb "fate" aspect, but in real life when you finally do find the person that you love and marry, everything about finding that person feels incredibly unlikely. It can feel like fate even if it isn't, and I guess that's true.

Rosie O'Donnell is great as Annie's friend who doesn't see Walter's charms either, but then she's not the character engaged to him while dreaming of another guy. David Hyde Pierce, months before he gets the role of Miles on Frasier, has a small role as a man who is in a passionless marriage himself and sees nothing amiss about it.

Sleepless in Seattle is manipulative and unashamedly so. The fact that it is somewhat old-fashioned is not a bad thing at all, in fact it is done wonderfully. In general, Sleepless in Seattle is just a charming romantic comedy, co-scripted and directed by When Harry Met Sally writer Nora Ephron.

The idea to keep Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan apart for most of the movie is a dangerous one, but guess what, I found that it worked! Strictly speaking, Sleeping in Seattle is made up of two story lines, one is about a recently widowed man who moves to Seattle and does nothing but grieve. The other is features a woman journalist from Baltimore, who overhears the broadcast with Hanks's son pouring his heart out about his concerns for dad and decides to track him down.

The scenery is striking, the soundtrack is very welcoming, the direction is solid and the script has heart and wit. In terms of acting, both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan give marvellous lead performances, while Ross Malinger is a nice surprise as Hanks's son. The climax at the top of the Empire State Building takes its inspiration from the 1950s weepie An Affair to Remember(with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr), and is very effective.

Overall, a charming and enjoyable film. Hanks, Ryan and Ephron teamed up again for You've Got Mail, which is inferior but still worthwhile. 8/10 Bethany Cox