Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

• Seeing Tom Hanks wander around New York City in BIG (1988) the other day made me realize that it’s been awhile since I’ve watched this ‘Hanks + New York’ charmer of a film.

• Pulling it up on IMDb, I had to do a double-take at the rating – I cannot believe that it has less than 7 stars! (Apparently, though – some people really, really hate this movie. I mean – obviously, I could’ve told you that it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea – but genuinely, I believed this film to be pretty solidly beloved across the board. One IMDb reviewer deems it the “worst movie ever made” and suggests that every last copy of it should be rounded up & burned in the fires of hell.)

(I will choose to move forward believing that this person must not have seen a lot of movies, ’cause, um…how do you think they’d like SKIDOO (1968)? Or CARNIVAL BOAT (1932)? Or, you know…SURF NAZIS MUST DIE (1987)?)

• Anyhow, I think I’ll wait to address/argue with the main problems people have with this film, as they pop up – and for now just enjoy it, because truly, it’s one of my favorites.

• Directed by Nora Ephron.

• Story by Jeff Arch. Screenplay by Ephron, Arch, & David S. Ward.

• I love that Rita Wilson (aka real-life Mrs. Tom Hanks) is along for this beautifully romantic movie ride, even if the two of them aren’t a couple in it.

(Wilson plays Suzy, a friend of Sam (Hanks) & his recently deceased wife Maggie (Carey Lowell). Suzy’s married to Greg (Victor Garber), and they live in Chicago…where until, well, now – Sam, Maggie, & their cute, smart-ass kid Jonah (Ross Malinger) also lived.)

(Sam & Jonah must move – because otherwise they’d be Sleepless in Chicago, and then the title of this film wouldn’t make any sense.)

• The choice to play “As Time Goes By” – and play this version in particular (performed by none other than our kangaroo-punching pal Jimmy Durante) – during the opening credits was an absolutely perfect one. When I think of this movie, I think of this song – and vice versa – and I know I’m not alone in that…which is always an extremely impressive thing to have achieved.

[Edit: To be clear – I associate the Durante version of “As Time Goes By” with this film…not just “As Time Goes By” in general, because – I mean, duh. #1 on the “As Time Goes By” list is obviously that other movie…coincidentally also featuring an important character named “Sam.”]

• The visual design of the opening credit sequence – with the stars in the night sky, overlooking the 3D-landform map of the United States, which is slowly brightening & diversifying in color, is also a thoroughly delightful choice.

• “Baltimore. 18 Months Later.”

• Ha! Annie (Meg Ryan)’s cousin Harold ran out on his marriage, but “came back because Irene threatened to put the dog to sleep if he didn’t.”

THAT’S WHAT EVIL MR. BARRETT NEARLY DID IN THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1934), WHEN ELIZABETH RAN AWAY TO MARRY FREDRIC MARCH!!!

Hahahaha.

Should’ve taken the dog with you, Harold!

• …This must be bizarre movie connection day – because I forgot that – like jilted fiancé Orville in SUMMER STOCK (1957) – Walter (Bill Pullman) is a sneezy Mr. Allergic. Ha!

• Next, we have an explicit movie reference – to PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) – which Walter (unimaginatively, of course) uses to indicate his luck in now being engaged to our (burgundy-velvet-wearing) heroine Annie.

• Meg Ryan plays the subtle hint of doubt that’s present in Annie’s mind, as her mother is going on about “magic” and “knowing,” superbly. From it springs our own doubt in the ultimate rightness of the Walter/Annie relationship – which is a smart little trick, positioned at the beginning of the movie; though we leave the evening liking Walter & feeling largely optimistic about his & Annie’s relationship, we’re also prepared for the potential detour that’s ahead.

Does that make sense? So many other films choose to BAP you over the head with an ‘ATTENTION: THIS COUPLE IS A MISMATCH’ newsflash…but this one conveys the sentiment as an interrupted half-whisper. This kind of subtlety is rare, and I really appreciate it.

• I love all the twinkly, twinkly lights that are everywhere in this movie – they make everything so magical!

(Yes, I know that all of this begins at Christmas, so of course there are those twinkly, twinkly lights – but they also appear in the string lights on the Baldwins’ deck, and on the sailboat, and in all of the reflections in the water, and on the interior window in Annie’s mom’s attic…)

Sigh. I love me some Happy Magic Sparkles.

• The ‘Two phones, across the room from each other’ scene between Sam & Jonah – the first scene in which we see the pair interact – is……well, I don’t think I have the words for what it is. It somehow weaves genuine funniness & total sob-worthiness together, in a head-shakingly incredible way. Hanks & Malinger are so instantly believable as a father & son – and though Malinger is great – the credit for this primarily goes to Hanks, and the facial expressions & body language he chooses to act/react with. And Jesus, does Hanks make us feel the depth of his pain & the realness of his character from the get-go.

The scene is smartly written, and expertly delivered, and is altogether, 100% PERFECT.

• Ray Charles’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” playing as the phone call ends…

Woof. Gets me every time.

• “And then suddenly, for no reason at all – he starts to talk about how much he loves his wife, and how he just fell in love with her, like he was one of those cows in Michigan.” — Annie, relaying the contents of Sam’s call to BFF Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) the next day.

• Alert! Alert! Extremely Valuable Bit o’ Wisdom:

“Ask them if they want to have a drink. Not dinner, not necessarily on the first date – because halfway through dinner, you could be sorry you asked them to dinner…whereas if it’s just a drink, if you like them, you can always ask ’em to dinner, but if not, you can always just say ‘Well…that was great,’ and then you go home.” — Sam, to Jonah

• Rosie O’Donnell & Rob Reiner do such great jobs as the Advice-Pal Side Characters. They’re each scripted with such fantastically funny lines (I see you, writers!) – and they each knock the deliveries out of the goddamn park.

Jay (Reiner): “You can’t even turn on the news now without hearing how some babe thought some guy’s butt was cute. Who the first woman to say this was, I don’t know – but somehow, it caught on.”

• Another explicit movie reference: GUNGA DIN (1939). (Sam throws it out as a counterexample when Jay suggests that he take a Cary Grant approach to his pursuit of women.)

The scene in which this is placed, by the way, is fucking hilarious. “This could go on for years.” / “The good news is you split the check.” / “Tiramisu.”

Hahaha. So good!

• O’Donnell & Ryan mouthing the words along with Deborah Kerr, watching AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957) next to each other on the couch, is such a classic image.

• Oh, man. The apple peeling. That did it! It’s. On.

• Again, with the indescribably stellar choice & placement of the music – this time “Bye Bye Blackbird” after Jonah’s referenced it post-nightmare.

(Which, of course, is a complete heartmelter of a scene between Hanks & Malinger.)

• Sam & Annie both think Brooks Robinson is the greatest third baseman ever. Is there a matching-personality detail out there more beautiful than that?!

(I’ll wait.)

• “Thanks for dinner. I never saw anybody cook potatoes that way.”

Fucking hilarious. And Malinger’s smile at the end is fantastic.

No, Psycho-Laugh Victoria (Barbara Garrick) – we do not want to use your friend’s Mariners tickets. GET OUT OF TOWN!!!

• “She’s a ho! My dad’s been captured by a ho!” — Jonah, calling into the radio to report on Sam kissing Victoria on their deck.

Hahahaha. Goddamn it, I love this movie.

(Also, during the same “scene” – Meg Ryan nails the physical comedy of Annie panic-running the phone & radio into her kitchen closet. She does a beautiful job with it.)

• Okay. So. Let’s talk about Annie’s Stalker Trip to Seattle. Lots of people have problems with this – and you know what? I get it. I think it’s pretty creepy, too. The defense of the whole segment is that she intends to talk to Sam & introduce herself…I mean, the very first thing she does upon arrival is go straight up to their door to knock on it – that (far less creepy) plan is just derailed when she realizes the Baldwins have just set sail on their Beach-Bound Boating Adventure.

By far the lurkiest part is Annie hiding behind that closed hotel, flat-out spying on Sam & Jonah’s football toss. Do I wish I this portion didn’t exist? Yes! Absolutely. Do I think there was a way to make Annie’s trip to Seattle more reserved, more subtle, & less stalker-ish, and wish the filmmakers had chosen this path? For the love of God, yes! Absolutely.

Y’all – this just doesn’t ruin the movie for me. I know there are a lot of people out there who bitterly disagree – but…pfff. Whatever. I don’t give a shit. It’s a tiny part of a spectacular larger story, & personally, I find it easily brushed under the MovieLand rug.

(Also, for the record – I think it helps that after the fact, Annie admits that her actions were certifiably whacked-out crazy. Like…she’s aware that what she did was a total Loony-Tune move. And hey, I think that counts for something.)

• Rita. Wilson. Her impromptu, offhanded-turned-sobfest AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER summary over dinner, with Sam, Greg, & Jonah looking on, open-mouthed, is magnificent. [Insert standing ovation here.]

(Hanks’s delivery – and Garber’s fake-crying accompaniment – of his “I cried at the end of THE DIRTY DOZEN” reply is also fabulous…but in a totally different, chuckle-worthy way.)

• Last, 100% perfect song choice: Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” as Annie makes her way to New York on Valentine’s Day.

• Last movie reference (in this film’s unbeatably solid line of movie references): FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)…which Sam uses to explain to Jonah why the two of them will not be flying to New York tonight to meet Annie.

• Another huge complaint people have with this movie is the way the character of Walter is treated. People are like, ‘Walter treats Annie like gold and is so accommodating & understanding & supportive! How can Asshole Annie crush him like this?!’ And folks…the only thing I have to say in response to that is:

If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, man! Individually wonderful, caring people VERY OFTEN aren’t romantic matches for each other! Okay – Walter treats Annie very well. Great. THERE’S SOMETHING IN THEIR PARTNERSHIP THAT’S MISSING, AND ANNIE FEELS IT. She’s supposed to pretend she doesn’t sense this & feel this way, just because Walter is a really nice guy???

No, y’all!!! Life doesn’t – or shouldn’t – work this way! Period. The end.

• Sam & Jonah’s Empire State Building reunion is everything. This whole last sequence makes the entire movie – and Hanks & Malinger start it off in such an indescribably killer way. Hanks’s “We’re doing okay, aren’t we?” speech flat-out wrecks me every time I watch it. What a weeper of an exchange.

• And then…we have the left-behind backpack, “Hello, Howard” portion of the sequence.

First of all, the trio’s meet-up is brilliantly written, from a logistical standpoint. Lesser movies would just have Annie run there and bam! She sees them, and that’s it. But here…with the closing time, “It’s one of my wife’s favorites” allowance by the elevator man variables…which also allow for the total emptiness of the observation deck – and then Annie’s not-immediate discovery of Jonah’s backpack (which also cleverly serves as our discovery – because the camera angle purposely obstructs the backpack from our view, though not hers, once she wanders) – it’s just…pure creative excellence.

Second of all, Hanks & Ryan’s execution of all this – their comfort in the simplicity & silence that is the “climax” of this movie – is stellar. They don’t overplay the emotion or the moment – and that makes all the difference in the world.

Third of all: Hanks’s “Shall we?”, accompanied by that so earnestly emotional look towards Annie/Ryan is the weep-worthiest moment of them all. That “Shall we?” hand extension puts me in sobby Annie/Becky/Suzy territory, every damn time.

Finally, I adore the closing shot of the elevator door image that turns into the shot of the Empire State Building (with the window heart!) from afar, while Jimmy Durante begins to sing to us again in the background. It feels so marvelously magical – and y’all…really, that’s the whole fucking point.

• This bonkers, over-the-top-ridiculous story works – and does so, so compellingly – because of two things:

1) The script & the characters are just as aware of the ridiculousness as you are

and

2) The gentleness & the earnestness with which Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan play the two main characters. The story is fantastical levels of absurd – but the people experiencing the story feel so real, so relatable, & so accessible, that you can’t help but be enveloped by the journey. And again – that’s a credit to Hanks & Ryan; their performances are the gateway in.

• That is why SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE works.

• Come on, folks. It’s the movies!

What’s wrong with a little twinkly, twinkly magic, every once in awhile?