The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 181 Days to go: 126
Movie #257: Sleepless in Seattle
Nora Ephron could really pace a movie. Sleepless in Seattle comes in under two hours — one hour, forty-five minutes, to be exact — and yet it is as rich and as full a film as you could hope for. The lives of Sam (Tom Hanks) and his son Jonah (Ross Malinger) are just as lovingly developed as that of Annie (Meg Ryan), on the other side of the country. There aren’t thinly drawn characters, and there isn’t a haphazardly thrown together plot. No, it’s just that Ephron knew how to make a scene count, knew how to impart valuable character insights as efficiently as possible, and, basically, knew how to tell a great story.
Sleepless in Seattle is one of the great romantic comedies of the late twentieth century, it’s true, but that’s only partly because of the love story. The chemistry between Hanks and Ryan is palpable, even when they aren’t in any scenes together at all, which is why they starred in so many movies together. You feel the magical connection when Annie is listening to Sam on the radio. You feel Sam’s heart catch in his throat when he sees her in the airport and on the street. You become invested in these characters. But more than just the two of them, you care about and are invested in the people around them as well.
The friendship between Annie and Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) is as sincere and authentic a portrayal of female friendship as can be. They gossip together, they confide in each other, they poke fun but only with love, and they support each other without judgment. They are true and dear friends who share interests and feelings and desires, and it comes across that they’ve been friends for a long time and that they understand each other. That’s the kind of friendship that transcends romantic relationships, and it’s just portrayed so beautifully here.
Moreover, Sam’s sister Suzy (Rita Wilson) is a sheer and utter delight. Even though she only has one big scene, in describing the plot for An Affair to Remember, she makes such an impact. She’s silly and emotional and lovely and so very like so many friends I know who talk about their favorite love stories that way. Plus she takes the good-natured ribbing of Sam and her husband Greg (Victor Garber) with aplomb, so you just know she’s delightful to be around. How Rita Wilson didn’t star in a dozen blockbuster romantic comedies on her own is a complete mystery to me.
Another small matter that Sleepless in Seattle wins big with is the treatment of the children. Jonah, Sam’s son, is eight. He has a best friend named Jessica (Gaby Hoffman), and the two of them spend a lot of time together. In a way that is completely believable and true for their age, Jonah parrots a lot of what Jessica says, because she is far more knowledgeable about things like destiny and reincarnation and airlines, plus she has her own coded language. And Jonah is demanding and tactless and naive in all the ways young boys tend to be. Again, they aren’t featured a whole lot (Jessica far less than Jonah, of course), but the scenes they are in are hugely telling and insightful and not once do they seem forced the way a lot of child actors sometimes do.
The biggest success, however, is with Annie’s fiancé Walter (Bill Pullman), who is a lovely, if boring, man, who is never once painted as a brute or a flake or a bad match at all. On the contrary, he and Annie are very much alike, and they very much like each other. They have similar tastes and are incredibly compatible, but there just isn’t a spark between them. It’s really kind of a beautiful sentiment, in its way, that sometimes everything can look right on paper and there’s no reason in the world why it shouldn’t work, except that it just feels wrong. And Annie bears no ill-will against Walter. She has no desire to hurt him or mislead him. Indeed, she thinks he’s a great man. But she doesn’t feel magic with him. And he doesn’t want to be the guy someone settles for. It’s a sad ending for them, yes, but a completely believable and respectful one, and one that is ultimately for the best for both of them. (The movie does this to a lesser extent as well with the woman Sam briefly dates, but it’s Annie’s relationship with Walter that’s really examined in this way.) It was truly refreshing for a romantic comedy at this time to acknowledge that the person you’re with doesn’t have to be a villain to be the wrong person for you, and it’s a lesson that’s stuck with me through the years.
It’s really a great little film, with fully realized characters and a fully formed plot that is funny and charming and sweet in all the right places, with a touch of sadness to make it feel real. And it does all of that in a densely packed 105 minutes. That Nora Ephron sure could pace a movie.
Viable Option 