Hollywood
has been churning out romantic comedies since it’s inception - Some Like It Hot, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty
Woman are some of the examples that come to mind. Is Sleepless in Seattle in the same league of the above mentioned or another
or is it another product of the rom-com factory? Let’s read on…
Sam
Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a widower and lives with his only son Jonah (Ross
Malinger). Jonah constantly longs for his father to fall in love again due to
the fact that he can’t get over his memories over his former wife and Jonah’s mother,
Maggie. Jonah convinces Sam to talk about these feelings on a radio talk show which
bestows Sam the title of "Sleepless in Seattle". These feelings are
overheard by several young women who are touched by Sam’s story. One of these women
are Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), currently a reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Annie develops an interest in Sam and
feels a longing to meet him. What lengths will she go to meet him? Will Sam
ever contemplate dating? What does the movie An Affair to Remember have to do with all this? Sleepless in Seattle has the answers!
Since
this is a romantic comedy, I would like to give 2 opinions on the narrative.
For
the romantic part, there’s a man who pours his sadness and frustration on a
radio live show and unknowingly/fortunately attracts the attention of a
gorgeous female. Nice concept right? Unfortunately this concept hasn’t aged
well. Due to this being the "oh-so-innocent" 90s, Annie stalks a guy
she's never met, hires a detective, travels to Seattle and getting jealous of other
ladies in his life sounds adorable. The director Nora Ephron was lucky she got
to make this movie at the time she did as today’s audiences would have found Annie’s
character majorly creepy for chasing a guy she’s never seen. I’m surprised no
one’s called out Meg Ryan’s character for displaying majorly stalker-like
behaviour. I’d like to see a man in Annie’s shoes do the same thing and hopefully
not get stomped upon by harassment charges and feminism groups. I won’t
disrespect Meg Ryan for portraying such a character because I’ve seen several male
characters like these in Bollywood films and I’ve learnt to forgive and forget.
If radio voices are what makes women tick, I would assume the Saturday morning
radio guys are immediately ahead of all of us in the dating game.
As
the comedic part, several characters attempt to keep the film light-hearted.
Jonah made me smile in several moments such as the Fatal Attraction joke and his knowledge on sex. Jonah’s comedic
part is enjoyable due to the fact that he’s a kid yet he understands the world
of romance much better than his father does. I believe the film’s writer and director
Nora Ephron understood that an 8 year old having this cheekiness with his
father would be lapped up by the audiences. Had Jonah’s character been a 16
year old, he would have received slaps instead of laps. Smart decision there! The
acronyms, however, got on my nerves. There were MFEO, NY, and H and G from what
I can remember. I can see they were trying to make us smile but these were
annoying. MFEO sounded like a swearword, H and G was just plain stupid whilst
the NY one just about made me laugh.
I
liked Tom Hank’s acting. His character doesn’t want anything to do with dating
and Tom Hanks pulls off the bitterness incredibly well without making his
character insufferable. His bewildered expressions at his son’s ridiculous
questions complete the scene. One minor complaint I have with his character is his
confusion on which girl he wants to date. He falls in love with Annie at first
sight, not realising who she is, whilst stringing along Victoria. Though I guess
that was part of the reason why he chose not to enter the dating life, the
abrupt ending is probably the reason why I can’t work around his character’s
confusion.
Meg
Ryan has had adequate experience with the rom-com genre- When Harry Met Sally immediately comes to mind. Despite her
character giving it the stalker-ish feel, I somehow warmed to her character
because she was a die-hard romantic. Her picking inspiration from an old
Hollywood classic was probably what helped me like her easily. Her reactions to
the radio talk show are a testament of her acting.
As
mentioned before, Ross Malinger was my favourite. I’m not familiar with the
rest of his acting career but I’m sure it must have been fruitful because at
the age of 8/9 years, he displays adequate comic and emotional chops.
Bill
Pullman plays Walter, Annie’s fiancée. Wondering why I didn’t mention his name
in the plot? Because he hardly has any relevance and I didn’t care much for
him. Not because his acting school gave him the wrong guidance but because he
hardly has a role of play. Annie is having doubts about her relationship with
him and we, the audience, can’t put our finger on what she hates about him. His
allergies? His inability to dance? I’m guessing he can’t light a fire in her
belly, the same way Sam would but the viewer’s guess is as good as mine because
I didn’t see anything wrong with him. I won’t comment too much on his acting
but I can only say he did the best with what was given to him.
Barbara
Garrick plays Victoria, Sam’s fiancée. Though she’s a nice girl she has the
tendency to laugh too long for Sam’s not-so-funny jokes. The cringe worthy
laugh she had, I’m glad Sam didn’t go with her. Credit goes to Garrick’s acting
for making her laugh so believingly annoying.
Rosie
O'Donnell plays Becky, Annie’s editor and friend. She is also a good
contributor to the film’s comic quotient though I can’t say I whole-heartedly
like her acting because her character is too stereotyped. She did make me laugh
on certain scenes though.
If
you want to find out the meanings of the above mentioned acronyms, then I would
suggest you watch the movie. The meanings aren’t mind-blowing, I’m not sure
they were supposed to be mind-blowing and I common sense when I was hoping the
acronym would become a part of movie pop culture and ended up with a damp squib.
For
those who are considering watching the movie, Jonah will immediately become your
favourite. The storyline, though illogical at times, kept my interest. Especially
towards the end when Jonah catches a flight on his own (see! Told you,
illogical). Tom Hanks has handled his character and performance incredibly well
and is worthy of that Golden Globe nomination.
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