Rating: 
Summary: Great Film, But Missing one of the Best Scenes
Review: Sleepless in Seattle is among my favorite movies, and I was looking forward to seeing the ENTIRE film. Unfortunately, I discovered that this edition is missing at least one significant (and in my opinion, very funny) scene: The part where Annie, having received a phone call from her friend Becky telling her that Sleepless in Seattle was on the radio again, ends up hiding in the broom closet so that she can listen without Walter finding out. I have no idea why it was cut from the DVD edition, and wish I had known before purchasing.
Rating:
Summary: E-Courtship & Cross-Continental Romance
Review: I recently saw three films again, two directed by Norah Ephron. This one plus When Harry Met Sally which Rob Reiner directed (1989) and You've Got Mail (1998). All three are quite different but each has held up remarkably well. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan co-star in this updated version of An Affair to Remember (1957). I leave it to others to compare and contrast those two films. Suffice to say I enjoy both. What is quite odd about Sleepless in Seattle is that Hanks and Ryan spend almost no time together on-screen until the inevitable conclusion atop the Empire State Building, at which point they finally meet. However implausible the plot may be, the film succeeds because of Norah Ephron's crisp direction of an excellent cast.
After Sam Baldwin (Hanks) becomes a widower, he and son Jonah (Ross Malinger) relocate to Seattle and live aboard a houseboat. Some time later, Jonah calls in to a radio station, asking for help to locate a new mother. Sam then begins to explain to the radio audience how much he loved his late wife and how much he and Jonah now miss her. Of course, Annie Reed (Ryan) hears all this and immediately falls in love with Sam. In fact, thousands of women throughout the United States do and write letters to "Sleepless in Seattle" to tell him so. And then....Credit Larry Atlas and David S. Ward with an especially clever screenplay. Several members of the supporting cast are outstanding, notably young Malinger, Bill Pullman (to whom Annie is initially engaged), Rosie O'Donnell (her friend Becky), Rob Reiner (Sam's friend Jay), and Rita Wilson (Hanks's offscreen wife) in a brief but memorable appearance who is hilarious when explaining why An Affair to Remember means so much to her. Nice touch.
More a quibble than a complaint, I wish that in this film (as well as in When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail) Ephron were not quite so manipulative with her use of music. Heaven knows, the CD continues to sell well because it is full of great stuff: As Time Goes By (Jimmy Durante), Kiss to Build a Dream On (Louis Armstrong), Stardust (Nat King Cole), Makin' Whoopee (Dr. John), In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Carly Simon), Back in the Saddle Again (Gene Autry), Bye Bye Blackbird (Joe Cocker), Wink and a Smile (Harry Connick, Jr.), Stand by Your Man (Tammy Wynette), An Affair to Remember (original soundtrack), Make Someone Happy (Jimmy Durante), and When I Fall in Love (Celine Dion). That said, I enjoyed seeing this film again and, this time around. I was much more interested in Sam's relationship with his resourceful son than in his long-distance relationship with Annie, a two-dimensional character at best.
Rating: 
Summary: Best movie-EVER!
Review: "Sleepless in Seattle" is one of the most heartwarming, inspiring, and romantic movies that I've ever seen.
The movie is about Annie (Meg Ryan), a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, who is engaged to someone whom she's not 100% sure is the one for her. One night, while tuning into a late night radio show, she listens as a young boy confides in the radio show host his father's hurt after losing his wife. Right then and there, she falls in love with "Sleepless in Seattle," and writes him a letter.
Meanwhile, the young boy in Seattle, Jonah, is very sad because his dad, Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is dating a woman he does not approve of. After the radio show, tons of letters come piling in, and while Sam does not read them, Jonah does. Soon, he finds Annie's letter, and thinks she's perfect. Sam, however, will not give in to Jonah's plea to go to New York and meet Annie on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day-a suggestion Annie put in her letter under the guidance of a friend (played by Rose O'Donnell), inspired by the movie "An Affair to Remember."
My favorite part is when Sam tells the radio station how he is coping with the loss of his wife-"Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning, breath in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out. And, then, after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while."
If that doesn't go straight to the heart, I don't know what will. I can definitely see why Annie fell for "Sleepless in Seattle"-it's what every woman wants (even the ones over 40 ;-D).
Rating: 
Summary: Better get the older version
Review: Comparing tyhis edition, to the older one, I see very little difference, other than a gift certificate: They pretty much just changed the box design. If you know you will be spending $10 at Starbucks within a few months of this DVD's release, then perhaps you might want to buy it; otherwise, it is far cheaper to get the "collector's edition", which has all of the same big features as this one. You can find it pretty cheaply on Amazon still, and it is pretty common to find it in the low-priced selections of a lot of other stores as well.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Review: WOW! I LOVE this movie! It's a favorite of all my families. I think this is a great love story and almost anyone would enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Very original storyline!
Review: As a rule, I like romantic comedies. But even I can admit that most of the time, the plots are somewhat lacking, if not out-and-out "redos" of some other movie. However, not so with this movie; the storyline here a unique and charming twist. Before I begin gushing, I'll discuss the one issue I had with this movie: the sexual references. Totally inappropriate coming out of the mouth of an 8-yr old, and not what I would expect of a PG movie. Having said that, the story, if somewhat implausible, was definitely engaging. Tom Hanks will break your heart as Sam, a widowed father trying to put the pieces of his life together--working hard to be a good father while depending on his son to help him "get out of bed in the morning, & breathe in & out all day". Meg Ryan is always charming (well, except for in Top Gun), but Annie is probably her most charming role. Her struggle between a stable, predictable life with her soon to be husband and what she begins to perceive as her "destiny" culminates with a trip to the Empire State Building and a very touching scene as Annie hits it off with Josh who badly needs a mother's love. The ties it makes to "An Affair to Remember" add a humorous sentimentality to this movie, but in no way "copy" the plot of the old classic. In fact, these scenes poke gentle fun at the movie, without being disrespectful or harsh. Not necessarily a classic itself, but all in all a really good flick!
|
