Sleepless in Seattle

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Sleepless in Seattle

original film poster
Directed by Nora Ephron
Produced by Gary Foster
Written by Jeff Arch (story)
Nora Ephron (screenplay)
Starring Tom Hanks
Meg Ryan
Bill Pullman
Rosie O'Donnell
Rob Reiner
Music by Marc Shaiman
Cinematography Sven Nykvist
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date(s) June 25, 1993
Running time 105 min
Language English
Budget $21,000,000 USD
IMDb profile

Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron. Based on a story by Jeff Arch, it stars Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin and Meg Ryan as Annie Reed.

Sleepless in Seattle was nominated for two 1994 Academy Awards: Best Music, Original Song for "A Wink and a Smile", music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Ramsey McLean; and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Nora Ephron, David S. Ward, and Jeff Arch.

The film was inspired by An Affair to Remember and used both its theme song and clips from the film in critical scenes. The climactic meeting at the top of the Empire State Building is a reference to a reunion between Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember that fails to happen because the Kerr character is struck by a car while enroute. At one point, some of the characters discuss Affair, with Sam commenting that it sounds like a "chick movie." The success of Sleepless in Seattle led to a resurgence in popularity for An Affair to Remember for a younger generation of filmgoers.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Sam Baldwin, a Chicago architect, has lost his wife to cancer. He and his young son Jonah move to Seattle, Washington to make a fresh start, but Sam is still disconsolate. On Christmas evening, Jonah calls into a national radio advice show and persuades his father to go on the air with him to talk about how much he misses his wife. Thousands of women around the country, touched by Sam's story, send him letters. One letter is from Annie Reed, a journalist from Baltimore, Maryland, engaged to a nice but sneeze-prone man named Walter (Bill Pullman) who feels that there is something missing. Jonah, who has been working his way through the flood of mail, finds Annie's missive and likes that it mentions the Baltimore Orioles. He tries to convince his father to go to New York City to meet her on Valentine's Day, but Sam loses his temper and refuses. Jonah flies to New York and takes a taxi to the Empire State Building, saying he's going to meet his new mother. Sam, in pursuit, catches up with Jonah, who hasn't found Annie because she's busy breaking up with her fiancé. Jonah and Sam get on the down elevator just before a late Annie rushes in, but with the help of a lost backpack and teddy bear, all ends well.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack was a Number One hit on the Billboard charts.

  1. Jimmy Durante - "As Time Goes By"
  2. Louis Armstrong - "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" 3:01
  3. Nat King Cole - "Stardust" 3:15
  4. Dr. John feat. Rickie Lee Jones - "Makin' Whoopee" 4:09
  5. Carly Simon - "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" 3:16
  6. Gene Autry - "Back in the Saddle Again" 2:36
  7. Joe Cocker - "Bye Bye Blackbird" 3:30
  8. Harry Connick Jr. - "A Wink and a Smile" 2:47
  9. Tammy Wynette - "Stand By Your Man" 2:41
  10. Marc Shaiman - "An Affair to Remember" 2:31
  11. Jimmy Durante - "Make Someone Happy" 1:52
  12. Celine Dion & Clive Griffin - "When I Fall in Love" 4:21
Preceded by
Black Sunday by Cypress Hill		 Billboard 200 number-one album
August 21 - August 27, 1993		 Succeeded by
River of Dreams by Billy Joel

[edit] Trivia

  • Kim Basinger was the first choice for the role of "Annie Reed", but she turned down the role because she thought the script wasn't written well enough. She later stated that she regrets turning the part down, and she admitted that her judgment on picking successful films is often poor. [1]
  • Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks share approximately two minutes of screentime together. [2]
  • Jason Schwartzman auditioned for the role of "Jonah". [2]
  • The role of "Annie Reed" was also offered to Julia Roberts, who turned it down because of scheduling conflicts.
  • The movie was featured in a Garfield book, Lights, Camera, Hairballs, except renamed as Sleeping in Seattle to fit in the Garfield theme.
  • In the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, episode "Reese's party", the character Reese finds out that his brother Malcolm has rented the movie, and immediately assumes that Malcolm is gay. It turns out that Malcolm plans to watch the movie with his date.

[edit] Cast and credits

Starring:

Credits:

[edit] Box office

  • US Gross Domestic box office: US$ 126,680,884
  • Gross International box office: $101,119,000
  • Gross Worldwide box office: $227,799,884
  • US rentals: $64,930,000

[edit] References

  1. ^ 8 MILE - KIM BASINGER'S BIG REGRET
  2. ^ a b Sleepless In Seattle - The Movie Headquarters - by Marco

[edit] External links

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