Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

“Destiny is something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental.”

            I have ranted about chick flicks before (read my review of The Vow and feel the venom of my hatred through your computer screen). You would think I learned my lesson by now to never sit through a chick flick but, no I have not. I have tortured myself by sitting through Sleepless in Seattle and needless to say I hate myself so much.

            Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) has lost his wife. He now has to take care of his young son. Instead of staying in the city he moves to out to Seattle where no one he knows lives and his surroundings will not remind him and his son of their loss. One night his son Jonah makes a call into a radio station to a talk show. Jonah gets on the line and he tells the host that his father is lonely and needs someone in his life since his mother died. Sam comes in as Jonah is on the phone. He is not happy that his son has taken to talking about his not existent love life and personal life. But after a while because he is lonely and does need to talk he confesses his loneliness and need for love.

            All the way on the east coast in Baltimore Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is driving alone listening to the radio. She is listening to the talk show that Sam is on. She feels a strong connection to Sam after he says some of the same things she says in reply to a question. They are replies that Annie feels not many other people would have thought of. Annie works for a newspaper and she brings up at a meeting that she should write about the guy on the radio now known as Sleepless in Seattle.

            Annie gets a little crazy obsessive with seeing things as signs that she and Sam need to meet. Meanwhile in Seattle, Jonah is the one reading all the letters coming in. The smart kid gave their address to the radio station and now hundreds of letters are pouring into Sam for dates. Jonah finds Annie’s letter and likes her a lot. He keeps trying to get Sam to read Annie’s letter but he just blows it off along with all the other letters. Since Sam has not replied to her letter Annie decides to head out to Seattle to try to see him in person (crazy stalker bitch).

            After a whole bunch of other nonsense, Jonah takes it into his own hands to make Sam and Annie meet. He flies out to New York City on Valentine’s Day to make Sam come after him and meet Annie on the Empire State Building just like in the movie An Affair to Remember.

            The plan works and Annie and Sam fall in love with each other. THE DAMN END!!

            I felt like my brain was being fried. There were only two scenes of this movie I thought were actually good. The first one was Rosie O’Donnell and Meg Ryan sitting down, watching An Affair to Remember, and crying at one part. The second was a scene between Tom Hanks, Victor Garber, and Rita Wilson. She explains the scene in An Affair to Remember that had made Rosie O’Donnell and Mega Ryan cry and she starts crying. The guys start to explain their favorite movie and pretend to cry. That was actually a really good scene I loved it because it was genius, guys do that all the time. Hell, even I do it sometimes. 

            Sleepless in Seattle just made me hate chick flicks even more. I was bored out of my damn misery the whole. Do not even ask me why I sat through it. I may have sat through it because it is apparently a “classic”. Let me explain to you what classic is: Love Affair from 1939. This is the original story from where Sleepless in Seattle originated. Actually, Love Affair is where An Affair to Remember originated from. If you want to watch a good story go watch the originals. I kept thinking about if this movie was made today. It would have taken Annie no time to find Sam, there would have been no way Jonah would have gotten on a plane by himself because flights from the coasts are expensive and security is pretty damn tight now, and most importantly THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN TODAY’S WORLD BECAUSE NO ONE LISTENS TO THE RADIO ANYMORE! If you listen to the radio I feel terrible for you. I hate the radio so much.

            As usual I cannot say to not watch Sleepless in Seattle. Even though I hate chick flicks with the utmost passion I am glad I sat through it because I had been wanting to see it and now I have an opinion on it. Unless you really like chick flicks or the story of An Affair to Remember or Love Affair, skip Sleepless in Seattle. 

^^^ Here's Love Affair. WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!