Set The Tape presents Rom-Com Rewind, a series looking at the history of the genre and how it has developed over the course of nearly a hundred years of movie history.Īsk anyone about the films that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan starred in together and chances are two will come to mind because they are two that anyone remembers. Running time: 104 min.The romantic comedy has proved an enduring genre for the silver screen, from the screwball comedy of the 30s to its peak in the 90s, and resurgent popularity in the 2010s. Reviewed at the Writers Guild of America Theater, Beverly Hills, June 4, 1993. Skotchdopole assistant director, Skotchdopole casting, Juliet Taylor. Ward, Jeff Arch, story by Arch.Ĭamera (Technicolor), Sven Nykvist editor, Robert Reitano music, Marc Shaiman production design, Jeffrey Townsend art direction, Gershon Ginsburg, Charley Beal set decoration, Clay Griffith costume design, Judy Ruskin sound (Dolby), Kirk Francis associate producers, Delia Ephron, Jane Bartelme, James W. Executive producers, Lynda Obst, Patrick Crowley. Tuned-in viewers may also feel the editing by virtue of the truncated appearances by some supporting players, though it’s also clear “Sleepless” is as long as it needed to be.Ī TriStar Pictures release of a Gary Foster production. On the tech side, Sven Nykvist’s camerawork does the romance justice, while Marc Shaiman’s music and the carefully chosen song score evoke their share of laughs but at times prove overbearing. Other supporting roles are generally strong, though Pullman is a bit less annoying than he should have been to prevent audiences from feeling undue sympathy toward his character near the finish. Hanks certainly figures to increase his stock as a well-rounded actor and not just a comic, while Ryan essentially plays the same character as “Sally,” with pleasing if predictable results. In fact, it’s precisely that emphasis here that may prevent “Sleepless” from being quite the sleeper it could have been. More than anything else, “Sleepless” may be a boon to 20th Century Fox, spurring rentals of “ An Affair to Remember,” which is used not only as a key plot device but as a running gag throughout - demonstrating a movie whose squishy romantic elements appeal to women more than men. And since the big question isn’t “if,” but “when” and “how,” the film loses considerable momentum about two-thirds through before rallying for a heart-tugging finale. Yet for all the enjoyable flourishes, and there are many, Ephron keeps pausing to remind us, through various contrivances, that this is a movie, making it hard for anyone to really get lost in the story. There are some extremely amusing explorations of dating mores, plus more somber moments - providing Hanks an opportunity to strut his dramatic stuff - delving into Sam’s almost tangible grief. The movie pursues a parallel structure, with Sam’s friends and son Jonah (Malinger) pushing him toward opening up while Annie voices her own doubts only to her co-worker Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) and creating a strain on her relationship with her fiance. She finds herself increasingly obsessed with “ Sleepless in Seattle,” Sam’s on-air designation, fearing that she may be settling for “OK” on the romance scale instead of actually finding “magic.” Sam reluctantly gets on the line and ends up spilling his guts, showing such sensitivity that thousands of women write in offering to cure his sorrowful insomnia.Īmong those listening is Annie (Ryan), a just-engaged newspaper reporter whose husband-to-be Walter (Bill Pullman) is sensible but not very exciting. Sam (Hanks) is still grieving over the death of his wife (Carey Lowell, seen in flashback) when his son phones a late night radio call-in show saying he thinks the solution is for dad to remarry.
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