One of my favorite aspects of this film is the soundtrack. All we have to anticipate is when the meeting will finally occur. It even steals the ending from it.Īlthough we like Sam and Annie, as well as most of the supporting cast, the plot too often seems to meander around as we wait for the two long distance dreamers to finally meet. The Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr classic An Affair to Remember (1957) plays a large part with its plot explained, lines quoted and clips shown. It goes overboard to explore the romantic notions that some Hollywood films perpetuate.
MEG RYAN SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE MOVIE
In 1993 you could not find two more likable movie stars.Īs Scott wrote, and this film admits, Sleepless in Seattle is a chick flick. If not for their charm, I doubt this film would be at all remembered. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make a great on screen couple. Thus, even fate takes some effort, which by definition makes it not fate. Sam may be her destiny but she must make the decision to leave Walter and pursue Sam. Was it fate or chance that Annie caught the radio program that Jonah called so his father Sam could spill his romantic guts for her to hear? Annie is engaged to Walter, a man she has feelings for but comes to understand that she is settling with him. Meg Ryan says at one point that, “Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental.” David Hyde Pearce offers, “What we think of as fate is just two neurosis knowing that they are a perfect match.” The entire film is filled with quotes on the subject. Sleepless in Seattle lightly explores the theory of whether finding your true love is destiny, a coincidence, sheer luck or a lot of work. Rosie O'Donnell and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle It's not a perfect movie, but it is an entertaining one with two talented leads in the prime of their career. The tone of this movie is unapologetically romantic, from its falling in love with a voice on the radio beginning to its on the top of the Empire State Building finale. She doesn't always get the men as right as she does the women, but it's nice to see her try. In When Harry Met Sally (a far better film), this one and You've Got Mail, all of which she wrote, she gives fairly equal time to the male and female characters. David Hyde Pierce, who would again have a connection to Seattle in Frasier, also has a small part as Annie's brother.Īlthough she writes mainly chick flicks, Ephron does do a fairly good job of writing for both men and women. Rob Reiner plays a friend of Sam's and a pre-coming out of the closet Rosie O Donnel plays a friend of Annie's. Hanks real-life wife Rita Wilson plays Sam's sister. Bill Pullman plays Annie's allergy-ridden, but amazingly understanding fiancee. Providing some comic relief is a fairly well-known supporting cast. You never will of course, but it seems like you could. Some actresses are goddesses whom are only there to be worshiped from afar, but Ryan seems like someone you might actually meet. She has a charm and beauty that somehow still seems attainable. And in the 1990s Meg Ryan was the queen of romantic comedies and she doesn't disappoint here. He also shares good father/son chemistry with Ross Malinger. He doesn't have leading man looks, but he has great comic timing and is just one of those people that it is almost impossible to dislike. Hanks has that quirky comic charm of his. What really makes this movie work is that Hanks and Ryan are just so good. Sam, in just the few minutes he sees Annie also feels the same attraction to her that she feels toward him. Annie does some investigation of Sam and even travels to Seattle where they glimpse each other and almost speak, but fate contrives to keep them apart.
![meg ryan sleepless in seattle meg ryan sleepless in seattle](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/de/9a/ac/de9aacd2f2badd686213737d347e9ab7.jpg)
![meg ryan sleepless in seattle meg ryan sleepless in seattle](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/11/2c/9d/112c9d9f7efc122e5eb7375b3d451d43.jpg)
Ryan and Hanks only spend about 2 minutes of screen-time together in the whole movie. Meanwhile, across the country on that same Christmas Eve, Annie (Ryan) hears Sam on the show and feels strangely connected to him despite already being engaged herself. Sam ends up on the phone where he pours out his feelings for his departed wife. On Christmas Eve, 18 months later, Jonah calls into a nationally broadcast radio talk-show where he asks the host to help his dad who's still depressed. He moves with his son Jonah to Seattle to start a new life. Hanks plays Sam Baldwin, a man newly widowed as the story begins.
![meg ryan sleepless in seattle meg ryan sleepless in seattle](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NxtLxqBolJI/hqdefault.jpg)
And although she's clearly created a chick flick here, it is an entertaining one, thanks in large part to its two leads. The characters and the script spend a lot of time referencing and watching 1957's An Affair to Remember and it does seem as though writer/director Nora Ephron was trying to channel one of those unabashedly romantic movies from the 1950s. Sleepless in Seattle has an old fashioned feel to it and more so than the 16 years since its release can account for. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan on top of the Empire State Building in Sleepless in Seattle.