Sleepless in Seattle Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A deranged woman stalks a man she heard on the radio one time in an attempt to--wait, what's that? This is supposed to be a serious romance?!

Review: I don't know what coke I was snorting in '93, but it must have been good shit! I thought I remembered this film actually being romantic. Realistically, the story is exceptionally disturbing. Sure, the '90s were a different time and all that jazz, but come on, son. I definitely stand by my statement that "You've Got Mail" is the superior pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan by a significant margin. Here, there's no chemistry or virtually anything you could claim to be romantic. Hell, the two only share a handful of dialogue together! But this movie goes beyond the stalker elements and into delusional territory. There is like this unspoken voice of reason addressed at multiple times, and yet it's completely ignored by the leads in favor of whimsical thinking. That's called pandering to the audience. The writer wants things to happen, and, rather than anything occurring naturally, it is simply thrust upon your sensibilities as a sane individual. Sorry, not buying it.

Let's look at Meg Ryan playing Annie. This chick is nuts! She is unhappy with her fiance, that she is settling for, and is desperately looking for faults to sabotage the relationship. Bitch, you're about to marry Bill "we will not go quietly into the night" Pullman! But why does she want someone else? Because she doesn't "feel" any magical connection. What is this magic she desires? Well, apparently she wants her life to play out like a movie. She even says this crazily and admits she's been watching too many movies! Oh goodness gracious. Her next step is to creepily track down a guy she heard on the radio, hire a private investigator to spy on him, and randomly show up to his house unannounced. WHAT?! Keep in mind, she's lying to her fiance the whole time about all this. Does any of this make for a likable character? This relationship will TOTALLY work out. I just can't stand this hopeless dreamer element to her character. "It's a sign!" Get a grip, hun.

Okay, so what about Tom Hanks playing Sam? Sam's wife died only 18 months prior, and he's succumbing to peer pressure to date again. Why are we supposed to want him to date again? Maybe he wants to be alone. Maybe he should wait 5 to 10 years. What chick wants to be the replacement? You would constantly be compared to the mom with the son involved. I get why Sam is somewhat likable, but he's more of an average Joe Blow than some exceptional guy every woman would want; maybe I missed something, but I'm not seeing the appeal.

And how do they pull this bizarre romance together? Well, by throwing in bullshit about soulmates and Sam magically sensing a connection to Annie. How convenient. These two don't know anything about one another. They share no real dialogue until mere minutes before the credits roll. Where is the meaningful aspect to their relationship? Where is the resonance? Oh right, it's all destiny, yeah, sure, whatever. Look, you can have a story that covers these themes, but it needs to make sense reasonably. Annie is clearly a stalker, Sam is vulnerable, and this combo cannot possibly end happily ever after. Only in the movies. You know what, I'll just pretend the film's events were nothing more than second thoughts flashing through Annie's mind as she was walking down the aisle at her wedding.

There are some redeeming qualities, however. The jokes can be funny like referring to watching "Nightmare on Elm Street 12." The background characters were depicted with more depth than you'd imagine. In fact, they often serve as the voice of reason when trying to bring the leads' heads out the clouds for a second. I can appreciate certain plot lines, but I don't believe they were handled properly. The son could have been way more annoying so I'll give them credit for sparing me that torture. Lastly, the acting is commendable, the pacing is better than I imagined, and I did enjoy the general concept of a radio caller nicknamed "Sleepless in Seattle."

Overall, this movie is overrated. And don't give me that "you don't get it" bullshit. Maybe the problem is that I do get it. The story could have been restructured to make Annie more sympathetic, but it's as if they chose to add this drama to pander to an audience that also wants to experience this delusional pursuit of the shit they see in movies. I actually wanted this to be the depiction of some next level, across time and space love, but, instead, they opted for stalker-friendly fare. Ladies, just try and tell me you'd find it romantic if a guy did to you what Annie does to Sam? That's what I thought.

Notable Moment: Not necessarily a single scene, but I liked the recurring joke about having higher chances of being killed by terrorists than getting married past 50.

Final Rating: 5.5/10