The Rom-Com that Started it All: Sleepless in Seattle
December 28th 2009 03:10
Over the Christmas break, I snuggled up with boyfriend and watched Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Yes, he doth protested. But I had never seen it, and it is part of the rom-com canon, so I thought it should be mandatory watching for a blog like this.
For those who live under a rock (like myself) this is the basic premise:
Woman (Meg Ryan) is about to marry a guy (Bill Pullman) that she likes. But then there's a lot of talk about the magical moment of knowing when he/she is the one. And Meg Ryan starts to have some doubts. She hears a cute little boy (a must-have accessory in rom-coms) on the radio and starts to fall for his father (Tom Hanks) who she has never seen nor met and lives across the country from. Hijinks, sappiness and completely unrealistic situations and coincidences ensue that include the empire state building. I will not give up the ending, but it's not hard to figure out. Special props to Meg Ryan's character for being from Baltimore. Yea, charm city!
If that summary suspiciously sounds like You've Got Mail (1998)--well you'd be right. You've Got Mail, also starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and one of my favorite rom-coms of all time, is essentially Sleepless in Seattle but with better technology (radio >> e-mail).
I think my vote goes to You've Got Mail over Sleepless in Seattle because like the DVD case says, Sleepless in Seattle is the romantic-comedy that started them all. Meaning it was exactly what you'd expect from a romantic comedy-- implausible scenarios--like stalking; overly emotional women--like crying when talking about a movie; one dimensional men--who just need to get laid, and perfect happy endings--I don't think any security guard is going to let anyone up there after closing time, ever. Compare that with You've Got Mail, which pushes the bounds of the rom-com genre: Meg Ryan owns a store, Tom Hanks is pursuing her... I'm sure there are other points, I just don't remember them.
I feel like these are classic rom-com movies, so you all out there must have an opinion on them-- share!!!
For those who live under a rock (like myself) this is the basic premise:
Woman (Meg Ryan) is about to marry a guy (Bill Pullman) that she likes. But then there's a lot of talk about the magical moment of knowing when he/she is the one. And Meg Ryan starts to have some doubts. She hears a cute little boy (a must-have accessory in rom-coms) on the radio and starts to fall for his father (Tom Hanks) who she has never seen nor met and lives across the country from. Hijinks, sappiness and completely unrealistic situations and coincidences ensue that include the empire state building. I will not give up the ending, but it's not hard to figure out. Special props to Meg Ryan's character for being from Baltimore. Yea, charm city!
If that summary suspiciously sounds like You've Got Mail (1998)--well you'd be right. You've Got Mail, also starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and one of my favorite rom-coms of all time, is essentially Sleepless in Seattle but with better technology (radio >> e-mail).
I think my vote goes to You've Got Mail over Sleepless in Seattle because like the DVD case says, Sleepless in Seattle is the romantic-comedy that started them all. Meaning it was exactly what you'd expect from a romantic comedy-- implausible scenarios--like stalking; overly emotional women--like crying when talking about a movie; one dimensional men--who just need to get laid, and perfect happy endings--I don't think any security guard is going to let anyone up there after closing time, ever. Compare that with You've Got Mail, which pushes the bounds of the rom-com genre: Meg Ryan owns a store, Tom Hanks is pursuing her... I'm sure there are other points, I just don't remember them.
I feel like these are classic rom-com movies, so you all out there must have an opinion on them-- share!!!
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