Sleepless in Seattle

Film #1

THE PLOT

A recently-widowed man’s son calls a radio talk show in an attempt to find his father a partner.

Year 1, Day 1

BEFORE: After spending quite a while compiling my list of movies to watch (current count is 636 movies) I had to decide which would be my first to watch. Nora Ephron, writer of When Harry Met Sally… among other films, passed away recently and Tom Hanks wrote a nice remembrance about her. I thought what better way to kick off this marathon by watching Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle.

AFTER: Like many romantic comedies, Sleepless in Seattle followed a very predictable plot, so predictable I knew what would happen within the first five to ten minutes of the movie. Even so, there were still many great parts to be found in the film.

The beginning started off very strong. Right after you first see Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) and Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), there’s a great scene where the two are connected for the first time. Sam is in Seattle, forced to participate in a radio talk show by his son while Annie is in the Washington D.C. area driving home from a dinner with her new fiancee. It is a great scene with some fantastic dialogue that really had me invested for the rest of the film.

After the beginning though, things started to fall apart. It went from a great, original idea into the standard romantic comedy. That being said, there were many great moments littered throughout the film including scenes with Sam’s son Jonah (Ross Malinger), Annie and her friend Becky (Rosie O’Donnell), and Sam’s interactions with family and coworkers.

RATING: 3 out of 5