Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

A recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers:

Jeff Arch (story), Nora Ephron (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Sam Baldwin
Ross Malinger	...	Jonah Baldwin
Rita Wilson	...	Suzy
Victor Garber	...	Greg
Tom Riis Farrell	...	Rob
Carey Lowell	...	Maggie Baldwin
Meg Ryan	...	Annie Reed
Bill Pullman	...	Walter
Le Clanché du Rand	...	Barbara Reed
Kevin O'Morrison	...	Cliff Reed
David Hyde Pierce	...	Dennis Reed
Valerie Wright	...	Betsy Reed
Frances Conroy	...	Irene Reed
Tom Tammi	...	Harold Reed
Calvin Trillin	...	Uncle Milton

Storyline

After his wife Maggie passes away, Sam Baldwin and his 8-year-old son Jonah relocate from Chicago to Seattle to escape the grief associated with Maggie's death. Eighteen months later Sam is still grieving and can't sleep. Although Jonah misses his mother, he wants his father to get a new wife despite Sam having not even contemplated dating again. On Christmas Eve, Sam (on Jonah's initiative) ends up pouring his heart out on a national radio talk show about his magical and perfect marriage to Maggie, and how much he still misses her. Among the many women who hear Sam's story and fall in love with him solely because of it is Annie Reed, a Baltimore-based newspaper writer. Annie's infatuation with Sam's story and by association Sam himself is despite being already engaged. But Annie's relationship with her straight-laced fiancé Walter is unlike her dream love life in the movie An Affair to Remember (1957). She even writes to Sam proposing they meet atop the Empire State Building on ...

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Plot Keywords:

radio show | seattle washington | colleague | diner | waitress | 

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Taglines:

What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Legendary American arranger Gordon Jenkins appears a couple of times in the movie's soundtrack: "As Time Goes By", sung by Jimmy Durante, is the Jenkins arrangement. The version of "Stardust", sung by Nat King Cole, is the Gordon Jenkins version.

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Goofs

When we first see Sam, he's outside and there's a Christmas tree visible inside the house, with large lights on it. The interior tree bears no resemblance to this, having tiny white lights.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sam Baldwin: Mommy got sick. And it happened just like that. There's nothing anybody could do. It isn't fair. There's no reason. But if we start asking why, we'll go crazy.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: White Christmas Blues (2013)

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Soundtracks

The Proposal
from An Affair to Remember (1957) (uncredited)
Written by Hugo Friedhofer
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

User Reviews

Sometimes you just want to watch something light and frothy

Being a 90s kid I had heard of this but if it wasn't Disney or Nickelodeon, I wouldn't watch it. As an adult u realize it's not 100% plausible and a little problematic but as far as escapism this movie succeeds. Tom is lovable, great as always and Meg wasn't as great as I've seen her in other roles but she was also lovable. It's not the best rom com I've seen but I can understand y it was so successful.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sleepless in Seattle

Filming Locations:

1517 Pike Place, Seattle, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,253,733, 27 June 1993

Gross USA:

$126,808,165

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$227,799,884

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 93 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

SDDS (uncredited) Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1