Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

DVD, Seattle, WA

November 24, 2007

This was not the first time I have seen this film.

*** 1/2 / ****

by Scott Muoio

“Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning... breath in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out...”

Sleepless in Seattle is a classic chick flick and one of the most enduring romantic comedies of the 1990s. In no uncertain terms, this is a fairy tale movie about an idealized female romantic love and as unabashedly female friendly as you can imagine, in a good way.

Tom Hanks stars as widower Sam Baldwin, a single dad who draws the attention of everygal Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) by means of a radio call-in show. After his son, Jonah (Ross Malinger) calls Dr. Marcia Fieldstone and gets Sam on the phone to spill his guts about his wife’s death, his loneliness, and his inability to overcome the loss, female radio listeners across the country fall in love with Sam’s radio alter-ego, “Sleepless in Seattle.” Enter a series of almost meetings between Sam and Annie, the beginning of a relationship between Sam and a woman Jonah hates, the film’s self-referential parallels to An Affair to Remember, and the inevitable “magic” final moments and you’ve got romantic comedy gold.

Sleepless succeeds as a chick flick extraordinaire because it gives us likable characters and a theme all of us can relate to: home. Rather than place defining one’s home, Sleepless shows that finding love in any place, even the top of The Empire State Building is what truly defines it. That Annie must decide between marrying a man who sort of fits but who she does not have a magical connection with (a very funny Bill Pullman) and a chance meeting that will likely not occur is the risk versus reward scenario that ignites the film. Is the possibility of true love worth giving up in favor of comfort and stability or is true love to be sought no matter what we sacrifice to find it? Hopeless romantics everywhere will feel the latter and when they do, Sleepless in Seattle is their just dessert.

Sure, Sleepless pretty much shits on the nice guy with minimal personality who loses his girl over her exotic fantasies, but since Bill Pullman doesn’t seem to mind why should we? He’s raking in the bucks, has all his hair, and can easily find a hot chick to take her place. This is the movies after all, so I’m sure he’ll get his happy ending, too. And with that small hiccough out of the way, the highway is clear for Sleepless in Seattle to drive straight into the ‘90s romantic comedy hall-of-fame, and deservedly so.