Widower Sam Baldwin (Hanks) is struggling. So, he decides to make a fresh start and moves across the country to Seattle. But, it doesn’t really work and he’s still miserable. The only person in his life is his son Jonah (Malinger). Jonah sees how sad his father is and decides one evening to call a popular radio show hosted by “Dr. Marcia Fieldstone” in an attempt to help his father find a new wife. Dr. Marcia (as she likes to be called) tells Jonah to get his father on the phone and Sam, however reluctantly, starts talking about his wife and how much he loved her. He tells Dr. Marcia, “it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home… only to no home I’d ever known… I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like… magic.”
Meanwhile, in Maryland, Annie Reed is listening to “Dr. Marcia” on her way to Christmas Eve dinner with her family and is drawn into Sam’s story…so much so that she can’t get it out of her mind. It distracts her in her relationship with Walter (Pullman), her fiancé, and it distracts her at work so much that she decides to write an article about “those call in radio shows”. She starts researching Sam, trying to piece together who he is by the few facts she heard on the radio show. Eventually she is able to find his wife’s obituary and with the encouragement of her best friend (O’Donnell), she flies off to Seattle to meet him.
Sam finds himself suddenly inundated with letters from women all over the United States wanting to meet him. He ignores them (though Jonah doesn’t) and starts dating a woman he meets through a friend. It’s obvious they’re not a good match, but Sam is persistant. Jonah however, has come across one letter from someone he thinks his father should meet. The letter is from Annie-though she didn’t actually send it, her friend did. Sam won’t listen though, telling Jonah that Annie is too far away and basically forgets about it.
Will Annie introduce herself to Sam? Is it meant to be? “Sleepless in Seattle” is an incredible movie that I’ve watched more times than I can count. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks share an incredible chemistry, despite the fact that they are only on screen together for about two minutes. The story is an homage to “An Affair to Remember” which starred Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant (another great movie to watch if you’ve never seen it). If you’ve never seen “Sleepless” you’re missing one of the greatest romance/comedies ever made. It’s rated PG for some language, and is really geared towards adults though young teens will probably enjoy the film.
Check out the DVD Review here.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger, Bill Pullman, Rosie O’Donnell, and in smaller roles, Rita Wilson and Victor Garber