Sleepless in Seattle
1993
Director: Nora Ephron
Writer: Jeff Arch, Nora Ephron, and David Ward.
105 Minutes
There is no one scene in this movie that stands out, but more a collection of characters that make this film lovable.
Sleepless in Seattle became an instant hit, grossing over 100 million (but never more than 4 million each week it was out), and launched a plethora of romantic comedies in the years, now almost two decades, after this film came to theaters.
The film is about Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) who's wife dies and moves to Seattle. Across the country is Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) recently engaged, yet overhears Sam on a radio talk show, instantly falls in love, and decides to search him out.
It’s a fate, destiny type of film.
But one character stands out above the rest: Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger). Jonah is Sam’s son, about nine years old, and is the only character that speaks the truth in the film.
Jonah is the voice of reason.
Jonah calls in the radio talk show host. Jonah finds Annie for his father. Jonah knows Sam’s new girlfriend Victoria (Barabara Garrick) is bad. And finally, Jonah decodes the Beatles and hears, “Paul is dead.”
Jonah leads the charge of his father’s life. Without him, Sam would have carried out his depression until death. It was when Jonah had a girl over, Jessica (Gaby Hoffman) that Sam decides to “get back in the saddle” again.
In the end, Jonah flies to New York to meet Annie at the top of the Empire State Building, thus Sam has to chase him. And only there does Sam find Annie.
Jonah is the hero. He saves the day. He gives his father love. He gives his father hope. Hell, his father better give him a damn good Christmas present after that year.
Hats off to you, Jonah. You did know what’s best.
This is great romantic comedy, but I think you got it wrong when you say this launched a plethora of romantic comedies. To find THE seminal one, you need to go back to 1989 and watch "When Harry met Sally".
ReplyDeleteNot only is it the first Meg Ryan romantic comedy, it doesn't strain credulity like many since then, there's no radio show, mystery email, time travel contraption or secret French vineyard. It shows how relationships develop over time and how as people mature, they can become "right" for each other. This point is brought home by the transitions in between scenes, which show "testimonials" of old couples discussing how they met and how they've been together for years.
To top it all off, it's really funny and has Billy Crystal as a leading man. Yeah, Billy Crystal. As a normal dude, you see Gerard "300" Butler or Matthew "shirtless" McCounaghey struggling to get the girl and it's just ridiculous, it's like there's no hope for the rest of us. With this movie, it's more like "Hey, if Billy Crystal can do it, I'm sure there's someone out there for me"
Well said...
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