While You Were Sleeping

For her work after "Speed" my brother began referring to Sandra Bullock as "Queen of the Chick Flicks", and I won't disagree, although some of her films work much better for members of both sexes than others. "While You Were Sleeping" is an entertaining film for Guys and Dolls, and it works in repeated viewings.Sandra portrays Lucy Moderatz, who takes tolls on the L train in Chicago and from afar has an obsessive crush on the handsome, well-dressed Peter Callaghan, played by Peter Gallagher. The audience must willingly accept that someone as likable and attractive as Sandra Bullock is stuck in a dead-end job where she is lonely and works all the holidays because, after all, she doesn't have anyone to share them with. The movie doesn't give you much time to dwell on this because before you know it, Peter is getting mugged and knocked off Lucy's train station platform where he falls unconscious onto the path of a rapidly approaching train. Not surprisingly, Lucy jumps down and pulls the man of her dreams to safety. Lucy then follows the comatose Peter to the hospital where a nurse overhears Lucy in one of her daydreams say "this is the man I'm going to marry" - which naturally leads the nurse to think that Lucy and Peter are engaged when, in fact, the only words that have passed between them are when Peter paused to say "Merry Christmas" as he dropped his token into Lucy's toll booth.Peter's wonderful family arrives and the misunderstanding of Lucy as Peter's fiancee is perpetuated. Lucy could have cleared up the whole misunderstanding from the first moments but:1. Peter's family is wonderful and Lucy is lonely.2. Peter's grandmother has a "heart condition" and Lucy fears that telling the truth may send Grandma over the edge. (The screenwriters were clearly searching for a reason for Lucy to not just fess up....)3. Since Lucy has been fantasizing about Peter for awhile it's not that difficult for her to pretend to be his fiancee.I've heard Roger Ebert say it's not as important *what* a movie is about as *how* the movie is about that thing.This movie would be doomed to failure if it were only about some pathetic toll-taker who pretends to be engaged to her dream-boat to his family while he's in a coma. But Lucy isn't pathetic - she's as likable and attractive as, well, Sandra Bullock, and Peter's family is full of charming, likable folks. Peter, as things would have it, isn't as charming as Lucy dreamt. Although he used to be in the family business of antique furniture, he went to law school and now barely keeps in touch with his family. He has a bitchy girlfriend who is in Europe leaving calls on his answering machine while he is in a coma - one of the calls tells him "yes, I'll marry you".Again - it's not difficult to guess where much of this is going. Bill Pullman plays Peter's charming, easy-going brother, Jack, who has stayed close to the family, running Dad's business. (There is an extremely well-done low-key scene close to the end where Jack tells Dad, played by Peter Boyle, that he wants to MAKE furniture instead of just dealing it - which will mean getting out of the family business. The scene has both a ring of authenticity, not yielding to any histrionic cliches, and at the same time maintaining the warm feelings that you've built up for both of these characters by this portion of the movie. These kinds of scenes *make* this movie.)Jack Warden gets special kudos from me as Peter's godfather, Saul, who loves his godson, but also comes to love Lucy as well. Michael Rispoli steals a few scenes as "Joe, Jr." the son of Lucy's landlord. In the early scenes Joe comes across as a shorter, heavier Andrew Dice Clay wannabe. But by the end even Joe has become someone deserving our admiration. This is the kind of movie where you want nice things to happen to the characters - and the movie goes about it's business in a very satisfying way.

Great movie!

Perfect movie for me! I see myself as Sandra Bullock in her personality and mishaps. I would love to date a woodworker. Bill Pullman was perfect in his role.

Disc arrived undamaged and works great!

I especially enjoy having online access to my favorite movies while away from home. No problems accessing movie.

What? You've never heard of the story of the woman who crushes on a man she sees every day during her job at a train station, saves his life after he's knocked unconscious and almost run over by a train, quietly professes to being his fiancée (wishful thinking on her part), and is then stuck when the lie is accidentally overheard by the comatose man's family...all during the Christmas season? Well, you've been missing out. Miss out no longer. Sandra Bullock plays the woman in this tale as she saves the life of a commuter, Peter Gallagher, who she happens to have a crush on. A nurse overhears a private statement she makes about his crush and the man's entire family comes to believe she's their loved one's fiancée...see, it's not nice to eavesdrop. Stuck in the lie, the woman, Lucy Moderatz, joins the family for Christmas festivities and becomes close to them, including her "fiancée's" younger brother, played by Bill Pullman. High jinks ensue as the commuter, Peter Callaghan, comes to and does not remember Lucy...who could have seen that coming? Without giving anything else away, it's a fun holiday film that spares us all those clichéd morals. I especially enjoyed Peter Boyle's performance. Seeing the man who made the character of Frank Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond famous play this calm, quiet man just shows this great actor's range and talent. He and the rest of the cast are definitely worth watching. Enjoy.

Great movie

This is a great movie to add to any movie collection.