SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

Well, technically this isn't much of a Christmas film, but if it wasn't for an important event that happened on Christmas, there wouldn't be a film. So I'm counting this as a Christmas film. Getting to the plot; Tom Hanks plays a widow Father named Sam Baldwin, who tries to start a new life with him and his son Jonah (Ross Malinger) in Seattle. It's Christmas and with Sam still in grief and is not being able to sleep, Jonah puts his Father on a radio talk show, so his Father can find a new mate. Meanwhile in New York, an engaged woman named Annie (Meg Ryan), hears the broadcast and is so in love with him that she tries to find him. OK, here's my first problem, a woman falling in love with a stranger who she knows nothing about may work in a fantasy (Disney films specifically) and sometimes in other films if done right but here it just doesn't work, it's just too dumb and corny for me.

Tom Hanks, I can tell he's trying; sometimes I do get a sense of grief from him; but as a whole I feel like he's holding back on his acting talent; is not funny when his character tries to be; and his dramatic moments are not as powerful as you think they are. In fact, I found myself laughing a few times during those dramatic moments. Meg Ryan, well I can see she's trying as hard as Hanks is, but I'm sorry I feel nothing but corn in her performance, but to be honest it's the character. She goes out of her way to find a stranger who she knows nothing about, while being engaged to another man and stalks him throughout the film, which I find more creepy and stupid then enchanting. What makes the film completely fail is there's no chemistry between Hanks or Ryan, in fact the film just ends when they first meet. At least in Fairy Tales (Especially Disney films) the Princess and Prince meet at least once before having a happy ending, yeah we wonder what happens afterwards, but at least we get an idea what their relationship is going to be like and how they feel for each other, even for that one moment before they live happily ever after. Here, well since the two never actually meet in at least in one portion in the film except for the end, there's no reason for me to feel their love for each other in the ending since the ending is where they officially first meet up. I should also mention that the film is very predictable and cliched when it comes to love because we get cliches such as love at first sight and the misunderstanding.

As for the supporting cast, well all I can say is "eh". Bill Pullman as the man engaged to Meg Ryan's character, he's usually funny, but here I don't know, I feel a bit of dullness behind it. Rob Reiner as Tom Hank's friend Jay, is not as funny as he usually is and since his horrible film "North" came a year after this movie has been released, I wouldn't be too surprised. Barbara Garrick as the woman that Tom dates throughout the film is good at playing this character with an annoying laugh, but is it bad for me to say that I liked this character better than Meg Ryan's character? Aside from the laugh and one sided relationship, I still found her to be very sweet and less creepy than Ryan's character. Oh and Rosie O' Donnel is in this film and lets be honest, she's just playing herself. As for the actor who plays Jonah, I actually enjoyed his performance and found him to be more interesting and fun than everyone else in the whole film, but with that said, he too makes the same dumb decisions as Meg Ryan's character.

The film plays as a romantic comedy, but I felt neither the romance or the comedy, I felt both bored, uninterested and saw too much corn.  The film makes plenty of references to the film "Affair To Remember" and while I haven't seen the film, I feel like I might enjoy it better than this film. The cinematography I'll admit is good, but to be honest it's not memorable or anything special, it's mostly forgettable. As for the soundtrack to the film, I'll probably give it a listen because the film does have some great music.

I find the film to be very overrated with it's corniness; clichés; dumb and predictable plot; not so great acting; and terrible jokes, that I'll never know how this is a classic; how it got nominated for awards; and how it got to be the 10th Romantic Comedy in AFI's top ten Romantic Comedies. However, it's not a god awful movie, I can think of worse, at least I can sense a passion behind it, but it just doesn't work for me. Roger Ebert liked the film while knowing how corny the film is, so I'm guessing the people who do like the film don't mind the corniness, lame writing and the cliches that the film has to offer.

RATING 3/5