On the tech side, Sven Nykvist’s camerawork does the romance justice, while Marc Shaiman’s music and the carefully chosen song score evoke their share of laughs but at times prove overbearing. Other supporting roles are generally strong, though Pullman is a bit less annoying than he should have been to prevent audiences from feeling undue sympathy toward his character near the finish. Hanks certainly figures to increase his stock as a well-rounded actor and not just a comic, while Ryan essentially plays the same character as “Sally,” with pleasing if predictable results. In fact, it’s precisely that emphasis here that may prevent “Sleepless” from being quite the sleeper it could have been. More than anything else, “Sleepless” may be a boon to 20th Century Fox, spurring rentals of “ An Affair to Remember,” which is used not only as a key plot device but as a running gag throughout - demonstrating a movie whose squishy romantic elements appeal to women more than men. And since the big question isn’t “if,” but “when” and “how,” the film loses considerable momentum about two-thirds through before rallying for a heart-tugging finale. Yet for all the enjoyable flourishes, and there are many, Ephron keeps pausing to remind us, through various contrivances, that this is a movie, making it hard for anyone to really get lost in the story. There are some extremely amusing explorations of dating mores, plus more somber moments - providing Hanks an opportunity to strut his dramatic stuff - delving into Sam’s almost tangible grief. The movie pursues a parallel structure, with Sam’s friends and son Jonah (Malinger) pushing him toward opening up while Annie voices her own doubts only to her co-worker Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) and creating a strain on her relationship with her fiance. She finds herself increasingly obsessed with “ Sleepless in Seattle,” Sam’s on-air designation, fearing that she may be settling for “OK” on the romance scale instead of actually finding “magic.” Sam reluctantly gets on the line and ends up spilling his guts, showing such sensitivity that thousands of women write in offering to cure his sorrowful insomnia.Īmong those listening is Annie (Ryan), a just-engaged newspaper reporter whose husband-to-be Walter (Bill Pullman) is sensible but not very exciting. Though if we're being honest, you're probably going to want to make it more of a driving (or light rail!) tour if you plan on including Sea-Tac Airport.Sam (Hanks) is still grieving over the death of his wife (Carey Lowell, seen in flashback) when his son phones a late night radio call-in show saying he thinks the solution is for dad to remarry. We've mapped the film’s actually-in-Seattle locations out below so you can take your own, personal Sleepless in Seattle walking tour. But Sleepless is perhaps the one that’s most embedded in the cultural canon-at least, it’s the one that people know best as taking place here. There are a handful of popular films that were either filmed here or at least put up a good effort pretending to have been filmed here (hi, Vancouver), including Singles, 10 Things I Hate About You, Say Anything., The Ring, Harry and the Hendersons, Fifty Shades of Grey, and the Fabulous Baker Boys, to name a few. It’s also a multi-occasion film, with touchpoints on Christmas, New Years Eve, and, of course, Valentine’s Day. Roll your eyes if you must, but the romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan introduced the rest of the country to Lake Union's floating homes and, for better or worse, gave East Coasters a reason to visit us more often. If we're talking about the film that most people identify with our city, there's really only one choice, if television’s Grey’s Anatomy or Frasier don’t count: Sleepless in Seattle.
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