Sleepless in Seattle | Review

I need to preface here: I am a big Nora Ephron fan. Huge. It’s not often you’ll find a filmmaker who imbues such warmth, innocence, wit, and charm into a film as Ephron does. I will ride for When Harry Met Sally until my dying day, and I can even get behind the mess that is You’ve Got Mail on the basis of ambience alone. Ephron, with her East Coast cynicism, fall leaves, oversized tweeds, and jazz, is a master of ambience. And that’s why I love her! So I am sad to say that Sleepless in Seattle fell a bit short for me, both in plot and ambience. Firstly, I think I’m a bit of a hater when it comes to precocious children in movies. It’s half the reason I couldn’t stand Marriage Story (the other half being that it was the most self-indulgent piece of filmmaking I have ever beheld, second only to Spencer). I find it so bizarre to characterize the child lead as wise beyond his years, to the extent that he actively tries to set his grieving father up with women. Still, I’ll go ahead and say that the acting in this movie is lovely - Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and even Ross Malinger (the kid), provide a coziness that lulls the viewer through this mess of a plot. Hanks’ catalyzing speech about the love he carries for his late wife was incredibly moving: a buoy in otherwise depthless waters. Plus, who could ignore Victor Garber’s darling little face! However, I do think Rosie O’Donnell was very much misused here.

Anyways: the plot. I like When Harry Met Sally (which is directed by Rob Reiner, but written by Ephron), because its dialogue takes what is often considered frivolous, love, and uses it to interrogate many subtle facets of life. Harry and Sally are rendered so gently that you grow to love them despite their irritating quirks. The characters of Sleepless in Seattle felt, instead, more archetypal than idiosyncratic. This is not something I look for in an Ephron film, whose work stands out in a genre that relies too heavily on such cliches. Sam is… sad and nice. The kid is smart. And Annie borders on sociopathic? The only reason we, as an audience, are not yelling at Sam to file a restraining order is because she’s portrayed by Meg Ryan, whose charisma shines through all screens.

Perhaps I find them archetypal because the movie has become such a juggernaut in women’s pop culture - there were multiple instances where I said - hey! I’ve seen that somewhere else! My roommate and I noted that Ephron’s films are interesting because they’ve become so iconic in the rom com genre, yet are incredibly meta in themselves. They often reference older romantic movies - Casablanca in WHMS, and in this case, An Affair to Remember. But here, the reference felt hollow. There was a lot of work to be done in Sleepless in Seattle to convince the audience that Annie and Sam have chemistry, as the characters don’t meet until the final scene. And I just couldn’t buy it! Sam sees her twice in passing, and all I could think is that he’s smitten because she’s a cute blonde woman. Annie obsesses over Sam because she’s moved by his speech on the radio show, but she’s never given any insight into who he is beyond “grieving father”. Who is Sam really? I have no clue!

Ultimately, Sleepless in Seattle did not give me the same warm feeling that I get with other Ephron films. Truly, I found it a bit tedious. And, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why the climax of a movie with “Seattle” in its title takes place on the Empire State building. Is it irony? What am I missing?