Sleepless In Seattle Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?
Sam is a recent widower who is seeking someone new. Sam's son Jonah, is also looking for a new mother, so when Jonah puts his father on national radio, hundreds of women write to him. One of the women is Annie. She's engaged to Walter, but he's a bit strange. Annie goes to great lengths to meet Sam.
| Tom Hanks | Sam Baldwin |
| Meg Ryan | Annie Reed |
| Bill Pullman | Walter |
| Ross Malinger | Jonah Baldwin |
| Rosie O'Donnell | Becky |
| Gaby Hoffmann | Jessica |
| Victor Garber | Greg |
| Rita Wilson | Suzy |
| Barbara Garrick | Victoria |
| Carey Lowell | Maggie Abbott Baldwin |
| David Hyde Pierce | Dennis Reed |
| Dana Ivey | Claire Bennett |
| Rob Reiner | Jay |
| Tom Riis Farrell | Rob |
| Le Clanché du Rand | Barbara Reed |
| Nora Ephron |
6.60 out of 10 (26829 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Can't see what the brou-ha-ha was all about
posted on 04 Jun 2009I was watching this movie on television and for once, was tempted to switch off the TV midway. That is a pretty strong statement because I usually manage to sit through a lot of atrocious stuff the TV dishes out. The premise of the movie was so inane - how do you listen to somebody on the radio and just know that this is the person you've been looking for all your life - you don't even know enough about this person to reach such conclusions - for goodness sake!! To defend myself, I have nothing against romantic movies!! I liked "When Harry met Sally". "Sleepless in Seattle" though is just plain stupid.
Simple little romantic comedy-drama that somehow attracted millions of weepy people
posted on 05 May 2009Precocious kid calls a radio talk-show host and puts his widower father on the line; thousands of miles away, a woman on the verge of marriage hears his plaintive words of love and is smitten. Romantic blather isn't so much nauseating as it is merely adequate('nice' is a word lots of viewers use). Those who found Tom Hanks' and Meg Ryan's chemistry dazzling in the much-superior "Joe vs. the Volancano" may feel cheated here(why keep these two apart?). The supporting cast of "colorful" eccentrics actually fare much worse, with Rob Reiner popping up to help give Hanks a boost(they have a horribly facetious conversation about Cary Grant), Rosie O'Donnell does the same for Ryan(and looks entirely ridiculous sniffling along with "An Affair to Remember" on television). The old, battered cliché of having characters in a movie watching old movies on TV gets a real work-out here, and it's telling that "Affair" wasn't a very good movie to begin with.
Good film, but over rated.
posted on 29 Apr 2009***SLIGHT SPOILERS*** In Seattle, widower Sam (Tom Hanks) is forced by his 8 year old son, Jonah (Ross Malinger), to talk on national radio about his feelings since his wife's death a year and a half ago. In Baltimore, Annie (Meg Ryan) is listening to the show and starts to wonder if Sam is the "one" for her, despite appearing happily engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman) moments before she listens to the show.It's an enjoyable film, I'll probably watch it again one day. However, I expected it to be better after hearing other people's comments. It seemed slightly unfinished. Hanks and Ryan are a great on screen couple, as "You've Got Mail" proved, but they are barely in a scene together in this movie. It would have been more convincing if we had seen more of Sam and Annie together at the end, to see if her feelings about him were correct and to see how he felt about her. I'm not expecting the writers to let us know if they ended up married or anything, just an indication about how they got on when they first meet.It is different from most romantic comedies, there is no kissing or sex scenes (which is refreshing) and the couple don't meet until the end.Rating - 7/10.
M.F.E.O. (made for each other)
posted on 17 Apr 2009Once in awhile a funny, romantic and sweet story comes along to make you laugh and cry. This is one of them. Movies in this genre are getting more rare. The only other ones in this class are An Affair to Remember and While You Were Sleeping. Please rent this one out if you haven't seen it. I am sure you'll have no regrets. Definately on my all time favourite lists.
Sleepless in Seattle is a light romantic comedy.
posted on 15 Mar 2009Sleepless in Seattle Ma Jiang English 022 Sleepless in Seattle is a light romantic comedy. Sam lost his life and cannot get it over. But his son Jonah was helping him all the time, because he wanted to let Sam feel better and he knew what his father needed. Jonah is an important roll in the film. No Jonah, no love story happened between Sam and Annie. Though Jonah was a boy, his action was like rather than a man. As long as he knew what he should do, he never gave up, and made great effort toward the aim, and he succeeded at last. How perfect result was! Sam found his love, and Jonah had a complete family.I have to say it is the one of the best films in my eyes. Good inspiration is in life around us. So we should be good at watching and collecting. Maybe, we can be great directors and d
if a movie touches you
posted on 04 Feb 2009like this one, a 10 is all you can do. Tom is great, Meg the woman plays the woman's role like nobody else could have.....If I get tears in a movie, the movie is a m o v i e ........touching. Thank you folks who did it, the folks who wrote this wonderful story. Am I sentimental? Yess. And it feels good. Each turn of the story makes you wish, hope, and finally no violence in a movie. What a relief. If you watch this movie around x-mas, you probable get more sentimental than in a hot summer night, I don't no. It took me 12 years to get to see this movie. Heard so much and everything I heard was an understatement. Thank you Tom and Meg and specially Ross, love you.
Love based on mutual understanding!
posted on 01 Feb 2009Radio stations, as well as television stations, which provide the people with programs of entertainment,news,education, culture and so on.Among them,there are some special programs.For example, radio call-in shows.In this movie,Sleepless in Seattle,Annie is attracted to Sam after hearing one of the radio call-in shows.Recent years,radio call-in shows have gained great popularity.A lot of listeners call radio stations to express their emotions and their problems,or send their greeting,especially about the emotion.Sometimes radio stations become a medium of emotion exchange.People can meet different friends.Just this time, Annie seems to be moved and fall in love with Sam!I don't know whether Annie could tell a lot from a person's voice.Does she think it reliable or reasonable? So I don't believe "love at first sight"or even if " love at first hearing".It could cheat you.I believe in "love based on mutual understanding".Of course,Annie tries to find out what happen to her.Doesn't she really love her boyfriend,while easily falls in love with another man,and they even don't know with each other.Annie attempts to contact Sam and even sets out on a cross-country trip to meet him.Sam isn't interested in meeting anyone.But when he see Annie for the first time, he feels something that can't be express in word.It is incredible! Additionally, without Jonah's help,Annie and Sam could go together? Who knows.So in one cases,"love at first sight" maybe lead to happy marriages. In fact,love based on mutual understanding will lead to more happier marriages.Because of mutual understanding with each other, two parties wouldn't regret easily one day.Anyway, Sleepless in Seattle is a hight romantic comedy.People like to see such films.In our life, maybe there appears phenomenon like this.The director catch some aspects from life to perform them.
So Naive !
posted on 17 Jan 2009There is a huge amount of faith in movies whether it's (An affair to Remember) or (The Dirty Dozen), so what (Sleepless in Seattle) is really trying to show that believing in movies could make you live its magic, or at least that there is a certain sense of reality there. Yet this movie deals with the matter of movie-comes-to-life so cinematically and falsely ! It's the ultimate girly dream comes to life, and an invitation for men to be less realistic and have faith in the girly dreams. It was made by what used to be taken as "girly stuff" where all the "it was meant to be" routine rules. So based on the fact that emotions are adolescent at times and how that could rarely be right forever at times, this very romance was too adolescent. It didn't convince or try to, under the influence of its belief that love doesn't make sense, so without much approach, smarter coincidences, or even less coincidences, the whole thing looked not as love at first sight inasmuch as love at sights !?? And regardless of (Ryan)'s fiancé as "allergic" person being mocked at (which got on my nerves badly since I'm one !), I couldn't stand the sudden, very easy, change of him at the end. But driven by the desire to present, even forcedly, a wow finish or extremely happy ending, it attained the word : fabricated ! Look at the climax, you wouldn't know if this love story could continue or not, originally work or not, because the drama sunk foolishly in its dream, and the hasty desire to fulfill it anyway. It looks, superficially only, as a nice fun, since it satisfies itself with what it says more than satisfying us with what it says !. Makes you feel this could be the ultimate "basket case" movie ! Clearly achieving that is very much what the filmmakers hoped for ! So, why not to witness for instance the 2 leads talking or dealing ? Ahh because it would ruin the fantasy !. If you think that the reality could include it, then Amen ..You're a believer, and no more sleepless, yet it can't deny how the movie reports that to us in kind of sleepy way. Moreover how, in the way to that, its amusement as a romantic comedy wasn't that romantic or that comic . It wasn't enough to hire (Tom Hanks) and (Meg Ryan) to feel the comedy. Even the light moments, the funny lines were so few. In fact it's romantic more than comedy while it lacked comedy as the accurate logic for great random accidents (or what seem so) like the ones this movie deals with. So eventually that weakened the romantic part too. According to its different plot, it was inspiring to watch inevitable lovers-to-be before their first actual meeting, and how life is open to far experiences like that, yet everything around was whether traditional or weak, with an end embodied Hollywood 1993's copy of its old happy dreams and in the happiest dreamiest way too. Like (Nora Ephron) said "I'll dream and make it true in a movie", however.. This wasn't very well-made dream. She didn't put much effort into it ; which exposed it wholly as just absurd coincidence, not "fate" as the movie was convinced and wanting to propagate. This fantasy didn't possess more details and a coherent inner-logic, even as a fantasy, to hit the mark. It got one intention that tells you a lot about cruel world where dreams are from movies, by movies, through movies. It's a case of a movie that lost any faith in reality to has faith in reality's magical area looking forward to the exceptional right thing to happen.. Quite an "extraordinary" incident it seeks, shows, and hopes for here. Of course life is movies that are more fantasy than you can imagine. It's the origin of all the imagination in the first place. But as a movie presents that, I think (SIS) is one of the worst ones to assure it, despite its well meaning. Also it says something about how we must let the hearts, not the minds, lead the way whatever haphazard, absurd, and visionary that would sound or could be. But the problem that it pays homage to "believing" in that and pays no attention to making it "believable" (Because love is unbelievable.. Got it ?!). This is not romance ; this is cinematic romance had been taken on by another more "cinematic" romance and weakly to end up as just implied love letter for the old Hollywood, and the dream in us.It works like a smooth bubble, and if it spreads the message of "go for your dream" so it did, but less effective and so artificial compared to any movie it pays homage to. Sorry, as a love story, this is so naive. However, that could be perfectly its basic purpose : Love is naive !
a fake love story
posted on 08 Jan 2009Every character in this self-proclaimed love story is so fake that I do not think any non-adolescent over 14 would believe it. I have always felt both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are over-rated actors and this movie is a living proof of that. Throughout the movie, I felt sorry for Bill Pullman who seemed to have taken his role somewhat seriously.The idea that two very good-looking adults falling in love according to a plot from an older movie is absurd. What is more ridiculous is that the wisdom emanates from an 8 year old who can recite long sentences without rehearsal! If that's not enough, working people with middle class life styles, seem to be doing nothing but to worry about their love life at work. I am so glad I saw this movie on TV so I would not have to go and ask for my money back.
This is a chics movie !!!
posted on 05 Jan 2009Quoted from the movie itself. But it's great, even when you're a guy. Preferably see it with your wife or girlfriend though. I love the sensitive way in which the characters are portrayed. Tom Hanks makes you feel the pain of his loss in the first part of the movie, which to me is a major achievement. Meg Ryan can always play a typical "woman next door" and still be very desirable (I am a Meg Ryan fan). If you think this movie lacks a decent plot you have missed the psychological part. That's what this movie is all about. And romance of course.
Didn't agree w/ the movie
posted on 30 Dec 2008Yeah, this movie is very unrealistic, but I don't mind escapism. (After all, I am a Bollywood addict.) I also miss the American wholesome entertainers of the 1990s that you could snuggle up and watch with the whole family--especially the Disney hits.Nostalgia apart, most of the movie is cute and heartwarming. However, I don't like how Annie ditches her fiancé (that too on Valentine's Day) for a guy she's just heard on the radio (and randomly saw in the middle of the street on the opposite end of the country for a few seconds). She doesn't know him at all. What if he had some freaky past? What if he doesn't like her? What if he is not there at all? Why break a perfectly good relationship with a person who truly loves you for some so-called "magic" that may just be a part of your imagination? What if that magic is yet to come in your current relationship? I'm probably too old-fashioned, traditional, and practical (apart from being a guy) to appreciate this movie, but I personally thought that it was an immature decision.
One of the Best
posted on 24 Dec 2008This is one of the best films about love and falling in love. While it does break some 'romantic comedy' conventions, it still allows us to see the tragic and comic follies of others as an example of how people encounter one of the most basic human needs. Hanks and Ryan are brilliant as the opposites of this film, and their comic timing and character work are to be applauded. The cast is rounded out with lovely performances from Victor Garber, Rosie O'Donnell, and a young Ross Malinger. If you love, this is a great film. If you don't, try it, and then watch this film. I would put this right up there with "Philadelphia Story" and "It Happened One Night."
Classic love story
posted on 24 Dec 2008This is a movie that uses the symbolism of early New York, that is Empire State Building and Cary Grant movies, not Twin Towers and terrorism, to bring two people together.Frankly, I thought that without Tom Hanks this whole movie would have sucked big time. I mean, you have one widower, deeply in love with his dead wife, being bullied by his psychotic son into finding a pair. He does so, in a so improbable manner, stumbling repeatedly onto neurotic Meg Ryan and finding the "magic" by just glancing at her.I think I liked the movie the first time I saw it, because I didn't read into it a lot. If you do, though, there are all these little marketing queues that make you sick after a while. You see, Meg Ryan's character is about to be married with a gentle and good hearted man. He has no obvious flaws. However, the script makes him allergic to a lot of things, snoring and a bit silly by being old fashioned. In the end, it's a normal thing for Ryan to leave him and for him to accept his fate gracefully, but is it really? The woman Tom Hank's character is dating has a silly laughter, so if the insane son of the man doesn't like her, it's OK to just ignore her feelings. At one time in the movie the boy shouts something about "Mom never shouted at me" and I thought "and look where that got you".In conclusion, you can't be a real romantic movie fan (like I am not) and not watch this, but still, it's just a silly fantasy about how people should meet and never do.
sleepless in seattle
posted on 15 Nov 2008After having watched this movie, then I got a deeper meaning of ¡°marriage¡± and ¡°love¡±.Remembering that when Marsha (the hostess of clinical psychologist) asked Sam (the hero) that what was so special about his wife and then let he love and miss her so much.Sam said, ¡°well, it was a million tiny, little things that when you add them all up, it just meant that we were supposed to be together. And I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home, only to no home I¡¯d ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I know it .it was like.....magic.¡±See, there were no better words than ¡°I love you¡± or ¡°my honey¡± all through the sentences. But it is provided me with the truth ¡°love¡± doesn¡¯t mean two people stay together all the time. Love does not simply mean sweet words or soft kisses. It is something that connects two hearts more closely.¡°marriage ¡°does not mean all trumpets and fireworks, that is ,you and your lover , the two persons¡¯ life, consisting of millions of tiny things and he or she is the one when you first met , and you believed that he or she was the only person for you. That is in some mystical, cosmic way it was fated. And what we think of as fate is just two neuroses knowing they are a perfect match.Yes , love can make just one heart that you sing to , one smile that cheers you, one face that lights when it nears you, one person is your everything . Once you have found him or her, you will build your entire world around him or her, and you can feel that he or she feels that way, too. That is the love, and that is the marriage of love.
A movie by numbers
posted on 13 Oct 2008It's not just that I disliked this movie......it's that I disapprove of the technique used to carve this particular bird. I love romance movies and also romantic comedies. I have a problem with the sensibilities of Nora Ephron. This woman can really write dialog exactly as people DON'T talk.
If I have to see one more 8 year old that talks like Woody Allen, I think I'll croke. This is a very conventional story written with every conceivable overused, worn out, tired plot devise that you never want to see again in your lifetime. The fact that this movie was and is a success.....I believe rests on the performances of the lead actors: Hanks and Meg Ryan.
She is fetching and he is......well, Tom Hanks. If you are tempted to watch this movie, try "Tender Mercies", "Paris, Texas", or the original "Affair to Remember". Pass this one by. Sorry to the scads of people who think this is good cinema.
One of the Worst Movies of All Time
posted on 05 Aug 2008One of my favorite movies is When Harry Met Sally so I thought that this one would be pretty cute too. Hell to the no!! If I could have given this negative stars I would have given it millions of them. This movie is in the top five worst I have ever seen in my entire life. I don't remember the last time I sat and started hating a movie less than ten minutes in and continued to let the loathing exponentially increase with every clichéd line and awful representation of women. Sleepless in Seattle sets the female gender back decades. Women randomly cry at the slightest stupid thing, send letters to some guy they've only heard on the radio one time because they're so desperate, and chase after impossible love because they're trying to recreate some unrealistic fantasy spawned by seeing far too many movies. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy corny, romantic movies, but Meg Ryan's character takes it to the extreme. EXTREMELY AWFUL!!! This movie is an embarrassment and an affront to women everywhere. All copies on earth should be burned and the ashes hurled into space towards the smoldering sun along with Nora Ephron for creating this disgusting garbage.
Sleepless in Seattle
posted on 03 Jul 2008In the film, I admire Walter from the bottom of my heart.If we say that Sam loses his wife and can not get it over is true love. If we say that Annie attempts to contact Sam and even set out on a cross-country trip to meet him is true love. And I must say that Walter¡¯s love is also true love, and his love is much truer.Walter and Annie love each other. Their love is common love. They live together with tacit understanding and very friendly. And Annie have engaged to him. This kind of life is which Walter wants to live. But then Annie says to him, she wants to leave him and looks for her true love. Walter must very sad at that time. He does not do any fault, but he loses his lover. He even can reproach Annie, but he does not do that. He really loves Annie. He keeps calm to listen to her. He loves her and respects her choice.Seldom people can do that like him. How great courage he needs to do that. Yes, I think he is really good man. And I believe that he can also meet his true love again.
Beautiful and sweet
posted on 21 Jun 2008Meg Ryan is an indescribable actress, who just makes you completely fall in love with her characters and their lives. Romantic Comedies seem to have been made to count with Meg as protagonist, a romantic comedy without her has something missing. It's not that she is just good in romantic comedies, but none is so good as she is, even my second favorite actress (Julia Roberts)'s movies are not that sweet. Meg is great in dramas too, like "City of Angels" and she was fantastic in "When a man loves a woman" (she really proved her talent with this one). Tom Hanks is a versatile actor, who have made all kinds of movies, who has won two Oscars for his great performances and who is just perfect in this movie.Meg and Tom were great on "Joe versus the volcano", "Sleepless on Seattle" and recently on "You've got mail". The result are three excellent movies, certainly there is chemistry between them. It's one of the reasons why I loved this movie.The other reason is because it makes me wonder whether soul mates exist or not. I'm very romantic, to complete, it ends with Celine Dion singing "When I fall in love it will be forever or I will never fall in love...". It couldn't be better. The whole soundtrack is incredibly beautiful.Some people told me it was too sweet, but for me it's just the right measure. Enjoy it!
Almost Perfect Romantic Comedy
posted on 31 May 2008Except for minor flaws, Sleepless in Seattle was the perfect romantic comedy. Meg Ryan portrays a Baltimore newspaper writer who is engaged to a very dull Bill Pullman (as always, he nails the part), although she doesn't realize it and thinks she is in love. I found it very endearing to watch Ryan, throughout the entire film, try to talk herself into believing that she and Pullman have a magical, romantic relationship even though they clearly don't. En route to her parents' house on Christmas Eve, where she will introduce Pullman as her fiance, she overhears a young boy on the radio who has phoned into a talk show. He is worried about his dad, a widower who can't seem to get over his grief. Ryan hears Tom Hanks voice and falls in love, obsessing over meeting him in person.There are so many good performances in this film. Rob Reiner as Hanks' best friend, David Hyde Pierce as Ryan's brother, and especially Rita Wilson, Hanks real-life wife, who portrays his sister-in-law. The scene where Wilson tearfully describes why a certain movie affects women is hysterical. And Hanks' response to her is equally funny.The flaws: no one in any of the Baltimore scenes had a Baltimore accent, although they did work in Ryan's love of the Orioles which is realistic since most Baltimore women are obsessed with sports. Rosie O'Donnell was AWFUL (yuck!) as Ryan's coworker friend--she was wooden and read her lines like a robot. I can think of a dozen actresses who could have put life into this role, especially Laura SanGiacomo of tv's "Just Shoot Me." Also, the actors were all white--not a single black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. had a major role in the movie--why?Except for these last few notable annoyances, it would have been a perfect movie.
If I want reality in New York, I can alway go hail a cab. If I want romance in New York...
posted on 24 Aug 2009I've read through a bunch of the reviews, about the existence/non-existence of the Hanks (Sam Baldwin)-Ryan (Annie Reed) chemistry; about the unfairness to Annie's fiancée, Walter (Pullman), the son who is bratty to his father's dates, etc., etc. In the end, it's Pullman's character that makes the point--life is to too short and important to "settle" for someone.It seems to me that the real story is that of Jonah (Ross Malinger), the boy who lost his mom, who hopes against all hope for a future of more than himself and his dad. Ja, ja, Annie is the confused single making it all the way to Seattle (I've been to Seattle myself looking for love, alas--actually, fortunately--unsuccessfully), but it's Jonah who gets on the plane to New York, providing the final catalyst for the inevitable meeting. And, of course, we're tortured as Annie gets out of the UP elevator just as Sam and Jonah get on the DOWN elevator (yes, hearing all those CHICK FLICK groans). Of course, Jonah's backpack is left behind (collective sigh of relief!)...... and so Howard, the teddy bear, completes the foursome. And who can resist Jimmy Durante closing the film singing "Make Someone Happy"?Then there are the naysayers. So sad for those whose own experience of love cannot overpower their hankering for "reality."