Sleepless in Seattle directed by Nora Ephron starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan rated PG (brief language)
We have seen this scenario before- several times, actually, but we never tire of it. The "destiny" element in a romantic movie, that they-were-meant-for-each-other feeling, the giddiness. Sleepless in Seattle will be called overrated because it feels familiar, but from the familiarity, director-writer Nora Ephron pulls in a nearly extinct gadget called satire. Sleepless in Seattle, at heart, is not meant as a satirical look at the 50s romances, but as something sentimentalists can get "high" on, something cynics will soften up to. It's sheer fun that doesn't require much intelligence, but a good amount of subdued zeal.
The two main characters are played by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. They're performances are reserved, which fits the movie well- it, too, is a quiet, light experience. Sam, the Hanks character, is a man who has just become a widower. He is left to be a single-parent for his young boy and is fed up with people trying to soothe him with "work will get you through this" comments. He moves to Seattle. Annie Reed, played by Ryan, lives cross-country in Baltimore, where she is engaged to a drab, low-key guy named Walter (Bill Pullman) who is allergic to nearly everything. She doesn't indulge in dreamy, romantic fantasies- she is extremely down-to-earth, a woman afraid of flying.
Back in Seattle, Sam's son Jonah discreetly calls a radio psychologist to report that his father is "Sleepless in Seattle," an insomniac who cannot grasp the reality of his wife's death. Sam is literally forced out to pour his heart and soul onto the telephone, onto radio, where millions of listeners tune into this heartfelt sobstory of love lost. Annie Reed hears this in Baltimore and falls in love with Sam at first listen. She is in tears by the end of his "our-love-was-magic" speech and is convinced Sam is her destiny, her fated true love.
This from a woman who, in the beginning, said "Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental." Now, she is willing to drop the Walter dweeb for this sweet, charismatic voice to whom she has no idea it belongs. She asks her brother (David Hyde-Pierce) if this is just pre-wedding jitters and he replies "Yes". She is extremely confused. She knows she's not the only one pursuing this dream guy "Sleepless in Seattle" but she feels something in her gut- telling her "if you don't find this guy, your destiny will not have been fulfilled".
Meanwhile, Jonah gets a letter from Annie and he, too, is convinced this is the gal for his dad. Sam, who already has a ditzy girlfriend, dismisses the letter which says they should meet atop the Empire State Building. "Hah," he scoffs. Jonah is concocting plan after plan because he instinctively knows this is his destined stepmother. Annie is full of itching curiosity- who is this "Sleepless in Seattle" guy, he sounds like a dream, he is my destiny!
The film continually alludes to the Cary Grant sobfest An Affair to Remember, from which it steals from frequently. That's the satire part, but it's satire done in a care-free way. The cynics have said the movie can't stand on its own, that its too loaded with false romance. It is false romance, borrowed from old 50s movies. We, the audience, don't actually believe this is real because we know life just isn't that coincidental. We would love life to be this way and some of us do believe in destiny (myself nearly included). Sleepless is rather manipulative like An Affair to Remember, but it's the kind of manipulation we don't mind- we were manipulated in Terms of Endearment and did we mind (I loved it.)
Although the movie has its elements of satire, it is basically a (highly) pleasurable romantic-comedy that doesn't let explosive, extremely funny humor get in the way of its dreamy, surrealistic love-destiny story. How do these cynics live? How can they resist this piece of tempting amour? It's the movies that try too hard that usually fail. Sleepless doesn't push us, it seduces us with its romantic fantasy and we are seduced. Sleepless in Seattle is a very delicious movie and those who dismiss it just don't get the point.
By Andrew Chan
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