Sleepless in Seattle

In the 1993 movie, Sleepless in Seattle, Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a single and widowed father in Seattle who is trying to raise his only son Jonah (Ross Malinger) by himself. Jonah calls into a late night radio program asking for a mother. Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) all the way in New York City and lonely herself takes an interest in the story and she falls for Sam without ever seeing him. A love story forms on fate and some rather ridiculous antics.  

I have liked Tom Hanks for years and I have always wished Meg Ryan's career had panned out better  for her. You can't say this duo does not have chemistry because they really do while Ross Malinger as Jonah fits into the mix perfectly and the story the film tells is very original. Still though, the likelihood of this story actually happening is very far fetched. Seattle and New York are such a long distance apart and it is filled with a predictable ending involving an airplane that wouldn't work now because of 9/11. Bill Pullman and Rosie O'Donnell are the leaders of the supporting cast and the mixture is frankly beyond uneven.

Now a week after it's 21th anniversary release week, Sleepless in Seattle is surely a very loved film. This film is one I can see living on for awhile and of course it is a classic for the ladies. Maybe it's the boy in me but I find Sleepless in Seattle to be a flawed piece more than anything. I think it is an overrated and somewhat underwhelming romantic flick.   


3/5

You've Got Mail

 

It's hard to believe but there was once a time in the dating world where the use of technology didn't have the impact that is does today. With Facebook, Twitter, dating sites and advancements in phone technology, there are now so many ways to connect or make contact with a person where as before you really only had a home telephone or even letters. You've Got Mail was a 1998 romantic comedy that introduced new technology to the dating world and in a very cheesy way. 

Small time book owner Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is living in the Big Apple and must compete with the opening of the new Fox Books run by the high profile Joe Fox (Tom Hanks). As it turns out, both of these business-owners are instant-messaging each other without realizing who the other is and a love relationship forms.

                     Nothing better than a REALLY dated computer

If anything, this seems very much like a typical relationship film. It is a love story that starts with people not connecting, being enemies and both doing opposite type of things. Even though these ideas are very dated now (when that last time you heard of anyone using AOL?), the instant- messaging is what makes this story. At the time, instant-messaging was somewhat new and I believe AOL may have been using the movie as a marketing idea. The idea that these people are messaging each other without realizing each other is unlikely but we can still very much go with it. It provides us with an ending that we see coming a mile away but there is still something in it to make us like it.

In this love story, there are a lot of hidden messages and surprises offered. Through the book theme, we learn what it means to own a book company whether big or small. We also get to watch life as it was in 1998 which is quite interesting close to twenty years after the fact. Even though it is redundant in every shape of form, we do learn a little about dating and how that works. From Greg Kinnear to Steve Zahn, You've Got Mail has a surprisingly strong supporting cast for a type of film like this. It's a very needed part of a love story that's only half-good.

You've Got Mail is far from an outstanding love story. As mentioned earlier, it's as dated as it ever could be and the leads have done much better romantic films. That said, You've Got Mail is still very much revolutionary while still sappy. It is one of the few tech love stories that men could really enjoy.

3.5/5