My Not So Movie Review: Sleepless in Seattle
Updated: Sep 30, 2020
So, I decided to give my take on old movies or new ones which I will call My Not So Movie Review. I know it’s very, very late to be making a comment on old films but there are really a lot of them which I want to recommend for reruns or even for the young generation to watch.
But make no mistake. I’m not a movie critic and I’m not really good at giving reviews so don’t expect too much from this. This is just something which is coming from my heart. As I said before, as long as I enjoy the movie, it's good enough for me. And it’s a spoiler alert, too.
Today I will be writing about Sleepless in Seattle. I have watched this movie a million times, I guess and it always brings me back to that feeling of how much I loved this movie back then. It brings back memories of blossoming love, flourishing friendship and well, just my younger days.
Before love through the internet has started, Sleepless in Seattle has depicted a love story that most of us have experienced right now – falling in love without having met the person yet.
Sleepless in Seattle tells a story of a recently widowed Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) who moves to Seattle from Chicago with his son, Jonah. As his son is getting worried about his father’s loneliness, he calls a radio station and asks Sam to talk about how he misses his wife, Maggie. With thousands of women all over the country listening to the program, they are touched by his story and start to write to Sam including Annie Reed (Meg Ryan).
As Annie’s obsession with Sam deepens, she realizes that he may be the one for him, overlooking the fact that she is already engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman). As Annie’s letter is the most favorite of Jonah which states that she wants to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day, Sam is adamant to take it seriously, thinking she can be a psychotic like in the movie Fatal Attraction, but is oblivious to the fact that she’s the one he is attracted to when he meets her in the airport and across the street.
Defying his father’s wishes, Jonah goes to New York with the help of his friend, Jessica whose parents are travel agents. Of course, Sam goes after him, rain checking on his weekend get-away with Victoria, the one he’s currently dating and who, Jonah thinks, laughs like a hyena. As all endings in love stories go, they finally meet Annie, making Sam so pleasantly surprised that she is the one.
I know. Who doesn’t love this movie? If it’s a Nora Ephron one, it must be good. It’s been 27 years since it was first shown but I still love it even until now. I don’t get tired watching it all over again. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s chemistry is undeniable even if they are not shown in the movie together most of the time. Check out also their other movie, You’ve Got Mail. They really are deserving to be America’s sweethearts.
Apart from the actors’ chemistry, the storyline, Rosie O'Donnell’s facial expressions and Meg Ryan’s cuteness, I also love the lines which I find comic or witty not to mention the soundtrack which is the best for me. The songs are oldies but truly goodies. My most favorite is Tammy Wynette’s Stand by Your Man. Check this out for the list of songs from this movie: https://www.amazon.com/Sleepless-Seattle-Original-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B0040GSGJ2. I remember I even gave a tape of the soundtrack to an old flame as a gift. :)
Anyway, this movie tells us that sometimes fate really plays an important part in someone’s love story. You may think that you have to stay with someone because you need to, but when your heart tells you that it is not what it is, then you have to follow what it says. Somebody gets hurt along the way, but it is how love is. And it’s better to give it a shot rather than having regrets for not having done anything at all.
I love the scene when Annie comes to the Empire State Building when it is already closing. He tells the concierge that she is meeting someone at the viewing deck and if he can just give her a chance to take a peek. She is not expecting him to be there but she will always wonder if she won’t take that chance. He finally gives in to her as that scene which Annie is describing is from a Cary Grant movie, An Affair to Remember which is also his wife’s favorite.
And I think it is one of Annie’s best decisions in her life. For someone who doesn’t believe in fate, she finally meets the one destined for her.
Let me end this blog with my most favorite quote from this movie. “But what I really don’t want to do is end up always wondering what might have happened and knowing I could have done something.”
So, let’s take chances. Watch Sleepless in Seattle. You’ll feel good after watching it. That I can promise you.