DVD (1993)  Written and directed by Nora Ephron                     STARRING  Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Bill Pullman, Rosie O’Donnell

Are there any rom-com lovers out there who haven’t seen Sleepless in Seattle? I suppose not. That would be like an art history student who wants nothing to do with the Louvre, or a Los Angeles police officer never spending time with Charlie Sheen. Sleepless in Seattle is required viewing. What’s unique about this movie as a romantic comedy is that the would-be lovers don’t say more than a few words to each other throughout the film. We don’t even see them kiss. It’s magical and romantic to the Nth degree. If you love love and want to believe there is a man out there who will remain lovesick and devoted to you long after you’re dead, then hurry off to the video store and indulge in this rom-com gem once again.

Tom Hanks stars as Sam Baldwin, a Seattle architect whose wife has died.  It’s a year and a half later and he is unable to move on. Out of concern, Sam’s 8-year-old son Jonah calls a radio talk-show on Christmas eve and tricks his dad into getting on the phone with the radio psychologist — where Sam eventually begins sharing about his wife and his grief. Across the country  is Annie, engaged to be married to a very nice man played by Bill Pullman (does Pullman ever not play a nice man?).  Annie listens to Sam’s story on the radio that evening and feels an immediate connection with him. She soon discovers that she can’t get Sam out of her mind and sets out to find him. Even dressed as a stylish bag lady (this was cute in 1993), Meg is adorable and a perfect match for Tom Hanks who is a true sweetheart.

Sweet extras  Watching this movie sent me back to a happier time, when Rosie O’Donnell was funny and elastic-cuff sweatpants were acceptable cozywear.  Also look for Tom Hank’s real-life wife Rita Wilson as Tom’s sister Suzy.

Good for who?  If you have a boyfriend or a husband who relentlessly mutters about hating “chickflicks” (a term I detest), then this movie is not for him. But it’s perfect for a girls night or a night alone.  For those concerned about content, it’s a rather clean movie but has a few scenes with words and phrases like “get laid” and “orgasm” chucked in to take away the movie’s sugary sweetness and bump it to a PG rating.

If you liked this movie you’ll also probably like You’ve Got Mail (which once again pairs up Tom and Meg).

Love this movie? Live this movie! Bringing back sweatpants and a warning to Zac Efron

“You don’t want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.”  This is what Rosie O’Donnell’s character says to her best friend Annie, and Annie knows it’s true.  Watching the super romantic film An Affair to Remember, Annie is inspired and decides to pursue Sam.  In essense, what Annie is doing is loving the movies and then living the movies. So if I were to tell you to live this movie, I could suggest that you live this movie by living this movie by living this movie. It could be a never-ending chain that blows the mindhole, but in all fairness to the exercise, of course, Annie didn’t live this movie, but rather she lived An Affair to Remember.  So you would live this movie by living that movie by perhaps meeting a lover at a secret location in 6 months time, or, if you’re adventurous, getting yourself struck by a car and nearly killed. Although, technically, to live Sleepless in Seattle, you could choose any of your favourite movies to re-live — you wouldn’t have to live that one. But be careful which one you choose because if you pick a movie like Groundhog Day, you will end up living this movie by living that movie by re-living that movie, over and over, until you learn to love unselfishly. As you can see, the levels of this exercise could go deeper and deeper until the more weak-minded of you spiral to your psychological deaths.

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Zac Efron said he lives out his fantasies through the movie roles he plays. So, in playing a role,  Zac Efron is simultaneously living his life. So if he chose to live this movie, he might live one of his own movies in which he is already living his life, therefore creating a rift in the space-time continuum and either creating a duplicate version of himself or negateing himself and ceasing to exist! This is not bogus science. Zac Efron, don’t live this movie!

If this whole thing frightens you, dear reader, how about you just live this movie by renting An Affair to Remember and watching it with a girlfriend? (Don’t forget the baggy elastic-cuff sweatpants — there’s nothing comfier!) 

Paula Jane