Roger Ebert started his review by saying, “If love at
first sight is a reality, then in this information age there should also be the
possibility of love at first cybercontact.”
Ebert continued, “When people meet via computers or
personal ads or phone-in radio shows – when their first sight of each other is
through a communications medium – isn’t it still possible that some essential
chemistry is communicated? That the light in an eye can somehow be implied even
over thousands of miles?” That’s the hope seen in Nora Ephron’s unapologetically
romantic movie about two people who fall in love from opposite parts of the country,
through the way of a radio program. In Baltimore, Meg Ryan plays a woman who is
already engaged to Bull Pullman whose only problem is that he seems to be allergic
to almost everything. Then one night, driving in her car, she listens to a
broadcast as a young boy is appealing to the host for help with his father.
Driving through the night, Ryan listens to the story.
The man (Tom Hanks) is called to the phone and we hear that after his wife died,
he fell into deep depression before finally packing up his son (Ross Malinger)
and moving from Chicago to Seattle. He though a change of scenery might help,
but apparently it hasn’t.
Ebert said, “Something in the man’s voice – or maybe
something in his soul that is transmitted along with his voice – appeals to
Ryan.” She can’t stop thinking about the man. Meanwhile, in Seattle, we get to
know Hanks, who is a really nice man but very sad, and his son, who hopes his
dad will meet the right woman.
Ebert said, “His dad has indeed met a woman (Barbara
Garrick), but since she has a laugh that resembles a hyena’s mating call, the
son doesn’t consider her a contender. Ephron develops this story with all of
the heartfelt sincerity of a 1950s tearjerker (indeed, the movie’s characters
spend a lot of time watching “An Affair to Remember” and using it as their
romantic compass). There is no irony, no distance, no angle on the material. It
is about two people who are destined for one another, and that’s that. And that
was fine with me.”
Ephron’s earlier film for “When Harry Met Sally…”
starred Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, and spent a lot of time showing Harry and
Sally not meeting. Ebert said, “This film, too, keeps its lovers separate most
of the time – although there is a fuzzy scene when Ryan stands in the middle of
the street and Hanks gawks at her, and bells ring in his libido.”
Ebert continued, “The plot mechanics, in fact, reminded
me of some of those contrived 1940s and 1950s romantic melodramas where events
conspired to bring the lovers close but no closer, and then the writers toyed
with us bymanufacturing devices to keep them apart. By the end of “Sleepless in
Seattle,” we’re hoping the lovers will meet atop the Empire State Building (a
steal from “An Affair to Remember”), and the movie is doing everything to keep
that from happening short of assigning Donald Trump to tear it down.”
The actors are well-matched to this material. Tom
Hanks keeps a type of separate edge to his character, which keeps him from
being simply a fall guy. Ebert noted, “Meg Ryan, who is one of the most likable
actresses around and has a certain ineffable Doris Day innocence, is able to
convince us of the magical quality of her sudden love for a radio voice,
without letting the device seem like the gimmick is assuredly is.”
Ebert ended his review by saying, ““Sleepless in
Seattle” is as ephemeral as a talk show, as contrived as the late show, and yet
so warm and gentle I smiled the whole way through.”
You can currently watch this movie on either Pluto TV
or Prime. If you haven’t seen this yet, you’re missing out. You should see this
movie because this is a must for everyone, even if you’re not a fan of
romances. This is one of the most classic movies out there and I think everyone
will love this. You might compare this to the later collaboration that Hanks
and Ryan did, “You’ve Got Mail.” Yes, they both have similar premises, but they’re
both good in their own way. See this and enjoy yourselves.
Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay
tuned on Monday for my yearly “President’s Day Movie Review.”
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