Review of Sleepless in Seattle (1993) by Ahmedaiman1999 — 03 Jun 2021

That's your problem. You don't wanna be in love, you wanna be in love in a movie.

Rummaging through the movies that really helped me at my lowest points, You've Got Mail was the first one that came to mind. So instead of giving it a rewatch (I do hate it when movies don't live up to my first viewing of them), I thought it was a sign I should finally get around to the other Hanks/Ryan Nora Ephron film. Again, this one proves how exceptionally good Ephron was at balancing out the gooeyness of her far-fetched romantic stories with some sincere dialogue that grounds a story about a star-crossed lovers in reality. The premise of two people who have never met and live on opposite ends of the country become infatuated with each other seems destined to leave viewers incredulous. But at its core, it's a story about a man (Sam) overcoming grief after losing his wife, instantly thawing the cynicism of a woman (Annie) once she hears on a radio about his "magical" love story he once had. Consequently, Annie goes to great lengths to meet Sam while grappling with the idea of leaving her strait-laced fiancé in the process for fear of leading more of a satisfactory life rather than a genuine one. That's why Annie's storyline proved more interesting to me, and Meg Ryan did an amazing job at expressing this kind of a dilemma Annie goes through from the moment she's crying while listening to the radio to the very end. She managed to express a myriad of troubling emotions that can only be inferred because of the lighthearted nature of the film. The chemistry between her and Hanks is once again undeniable despite, sadly, sharing very few scenes together. Crammed with humorous cynicism and self-awareness, Sleepless in Seattle also elicits more than its fair share of chuckles, whether coming from its endless movie references (with An Affair to Remember being at the top of them) or Hanks's sweet interactions with his on-screen son. Definitely not near as tightly-scripted as You've Got Mail, as its plot sometimes may feel like is stretched-out to death. Plus, despite being perfectly paired with some scenes, the soundtrack is full of on-the-nose choices. Nevertheless, Sleepless in Seattle is just the mood-booster I wanted right now.