'Sleepless in Seattle' is one of those films I had heard about, many times, but for some reason had never actually seen. But, at last, I was given a copy, and we sat down to watch it one evening recently.
It’s a classic rom-com, but the 'romance' part is well done, and the 'comedy' part amusing and fairly subtle rather than being overdone. Tom Hanks is superb as Sam, a recently widowed young father who is still grieving the wife he loved. His young son, Jonah, expertly played by Ross Malinger, decides to phone a radio show to ask for advice about his depressed dad.
The conversation is heard on the car radio by Annie (Meg Ryan) who is driving at the time, en route to stay with her fiancé the rather too-good-to-be-true Walter (Bill Pullman).
There are some quite moving moments as well as the light humour, and I thought it was a good storyline. The ending is somewhat predictable, but satisfactory nonetheless. Nothing particularly deep or thought-provoking, but certainly worth watching.
All in all, we thought it an enjoyable evening’s light escapism.
Rated PG in both UK and USA, probably due to some mild bad language.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
'While you were sleeping' is another film in the light romantic comedy genre from the 1990s which I had managed to miss out on entirely. Possibly because we did not buy films on VHS, and did not yet have DVDs. Or perhaps because I was a full-time mother of small children, with little time for going to the cinema.
So it's good to have these gentle classics available inexpensively on DVD. This is one I was given for Christmas, which I watched with my husband.
The story features Sandra Bullock as Lucy, a lonely ticket-collector who has a bit of a crush on one of the commuters: Peter (played by Peter Gallagher). One day, out of the blue, she saves his life. While he’s in a coma there’s a huge misunderstanding, whereby his family assume she’s his fiancée.
They are so grateful to her that they adopt her wholeheartedly... and, longing for affection and family life, she goes along with the deception, hoping that all will be sorted out when Peter recovers from the coma.
The problems start when Lucy starts to fall for Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman). So when Peter actually does wake up from his coma, life is far from straightforward…and she is caught between the two of them.
The main characters were excellent, the chemistry good, the story paced nicely. There were some amusingly caricatured minor ones characters, and a predictable but pleasant ending.
All in all, very enjoyable.
Rated PG in both the UK and USA, probably for some minor bad language.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
