It’s nearly ten years since we acquired and watched the classic romantic comedy film ‘Sleepless in Seattle’. So it was more than time to see it again. We had totally forgotten what it was about, but as we watched, some scenes came back to us.
A young-looking Tom Hanks (this was made in 1993) stars as the recently widowed Sam. He’s grieving for his wife, but doing his best to bring up his eight-year-old son Jonah (Ross Malinger). Jonah decides that his dad needs a new wife, so he calls a radio station with a phone-in to a relationships expert.
The host persuades Jonah to let his dad speak. He’s initially reluctant, but eventually starts to talk about how wonderful his marriage to Maggie was, and how much he misses her. Hundreds of women around the country hear this, and either phone in or write to him, as he sounds like a perfect guy…
One of the people who hears the radio show is Annie (Meg Ryan), who has just become engaged to a pleasant (if a tad predictable) guy called Walter (Bill Pullman). She insists she is very happy with him, and loves him deeply, although odd comments from other people make her begin to have a few doubts. And she can’t get Sam out of her mind.
Jonah is very taken with a letter that Annie writes (though she doesn't intend it to be posted). He is not, however, keen on a woman Bill decides to date for a while, and some of their interactions are amusing, and very well done.
It’s a relationship-based story, and is obvious from early in the film how it’s going to end. But it’s quite tricky getting there. For one thing, Sam and Annie live at opposite ends of the United States. Sam’s nickname on the radio show is ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, because that’s where he lives, in Washington state, on the West coast. Annie is a journalist who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland, on the East coast. She manages to get an assignment enabling her to fly to Seattle, then gets cold feet when she manages to see Sam…
There’s a lot of low-key humour, mostly relating to minor characters, and some excellent comic timing, as one would expect from Tom Hanks. The child playing Jonah is a delight, and their relationship is very believable with some poignant moments as well as some lighter ones. And there’s some tension towards the end, as it appears that Sam and Annie are destined never to find each other.
The pace is excellent, and we enjoyed it very much. The ending is perhaps clichéd, but done well, and we thought it a great film to watch in the Christmas season. I loved the sound track, with lots of old songs, now classics, presumably from the 1990s.
The rating is PG, and that seems about right to me. There are references to intimacies, and people seen in bed together but they’re fully clothed and nothing untoward happens. One or two mild profanities, no violence at all, and only the mildest tension as the ending is predictable. Having said that, the story as such wouldn’t be of much interest to young children, but Jonah’s significant role might make it appealing to children of around nine or ten and upwards.
Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews
It’s nine and a half years since we saw - and liked - the 1990s film ‘You’ve Got Mail’. So we decided it would make a pleasant evening’s viewing to re-watch it. Neither of us had any memories of the story, other than that a correspondence was involved. And anything with Tom Hanks is usually worth seeing more than once.
As the story opens, we learn about an ongoing secretive online conversation between two people who are in good relationships with other people. Kathleen (Meg Ryan) waits until her boyfriend Frank (Greg Kinnear) has gone to work before she sits down at her computer and checks for mail. The film is only twenty years old but the computer part looks very dated as an old-fashioned graphic pops up, saying ‘You’ve got mail!’
The correspondence appears to be quite innocent. Kathleen and Joe met in a chatroom, but they only know each other’s ‘handles’, and that they live in the same city. They talk mostly about trivialities, but there’s also some deeper discussion, of the kind that can happen online more easily than in real life.
We then see Kathleen at work, where she’s the owner of a bookshop. She and her co-workers are hard-working and caring, and spend time doing stories for children and other community activities. They’re a bit worried that a mega-store is going up just over the road, and it’s destroying smaller shops. And then we learn something that Kathleen doesn’t learn until the end of the film: that her secret, caring correspondent is also the hard-nosed businessman who is about to put her out of business.
So the story involves their meeting in real life, and disliking each other intensely at first. Joe is clearly attracted to Kathleen, but puts business and money first, and seems to care nothing for her career, or her shop. And as conflict begins, so their online correspondence goes into deeper levels as she asks her online friend for advice about what to do….
It sounds more complicated than it is. It’s very well done on screen, with some extremely clever timing and great dialogue. Tom Hanks is perfect in the role, and the chemistry between him and Meg Ryan is excellent. Of course the concept is slightly ridiculous, but it doesn’t matter at all; once the premise is accepted, the question has to be: how long can they keep up the two separate relationships without any overlap? And what will happen when either or both of them find out…?
There are some terrific supporting roles: Greg Kinnear as Kathleen’s boyfriend is a reporter, and totally on her side, fighting for her shop to remain open. Jean Stapleton as the elderly shop accountant is also superb, with some great one-liners. There were places where we smiled, and even chuckled once or twice. And one place - when Kathleen locks her bookshop up for the last time - which was almost unbearably poignant.
Although I’m always a tad dubious about hard-nosed businessmen or other dislikeable characters falling in love with nice women, it works so well in this film that I had almost forgotten, by the end, just how unpleasant Joe has been.
The rating is PG, which seems about right. Although there are some innuendos and other hints of ‘adult’ conversation, the few scenes showing a bedroom have the occupants fully clothed in pyjamas. I don’t recall any strong language although there are some milder expletives used. And it’s not the kind of story that would appeal to anyone under the age of about 12 or 13 anyway.
All in all, I thought it an ideal evening’s viewing, an almost perfect ‘rom-com’.
Definitely recommended.
Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews
'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
I suppose this movie was recommended to me by Amazon because I've watched and enjoyed others with Tom Hanks. I was given it for Christmas, so on Boxing Day we sat down to enjoy an evening of light entertainment.
And, indeed, it's a gentle, warm and pleasantly predictable romantic comedy of the kind which I like very much.
Meg Ryan stars as Kathleen, a young woman who runs a small bookshop. it's a pleasant place, offering a good service, and she's contented in her job... except that the owner, Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks) doesn't consider it financially viable and wants to close it down. So they're locked in battle and dislike each other intensely...
...Except that Kathleen and Joe have also met anonymously in an Internet chat-room, and communicate via email. They are gradually getting to know each other better while - wisely - concealing any personal details or identities from each other.
We felt that this film was nicely done, well-paced, and enjoyable for a relaxing evening. No great mental effort was required, and there are no fast chases or rapid action shots. Perhaps it feels a little dated now, since Internet technology has moved on significantly in the ten or eleven years since this was made, but that didn't really worry me at all.
Definitely recommended to anyone who likes this genre, with a 1990s twist.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
