How had I never seen...“While You Were Sleeping”?
Monday, November 4, 2019 at 11:13AM 
by Cláudio Alves
Some films prove their greatness by challenging the audience. Some engage the mind, others spellbind the senses, immersing those who watch them in formalistic dreams of celluloid and digital beauty. Abrasive, cerebral, immersive, cinema can be a wonder, but we shouldn't suppose there's a single path to cinematic glory.
Don't get me wrong, I love my slow cinema, my European art-house hits, and Philosophical reveries. To cry with Carol is magic, to wander through Stalker's desolation is like dreaming with open eyes and to see New York, New York is to applaud its spectacle of ambition. But a cinephile can yearn for simple pleasures, too. Sometimes, one just wants to forget life's troubles and escape, to enjoy the goofiness of a nice comedy or the sweetness of an impossible romance. Sometimes, one just needs a hug.
And I've only just discovered that While You Were Sleeping (1995) fulfills that need with the warmest of embraces…
Recently, I've been exploring the career of Sandra Bullock, especially her 90s work. One night, as I was feeling down and a bit grumpy, I decided that it was finally time to see her first big solo headliner hit, a movie that signals the point when a spunky supporting actress became an A-lister. I'd been aware of its popularity for years and now I understand. As I watched While You Were Sleeping, for some joyful 103 minutes, my frown vanished and the cloud above my head dissipated.
Entertainment-based antidepressants are undervalued and I think I just found a new remedy to add to my list of audiovisual medicine. If for nothing else, I strongly recommend While You Were Sleeping for its prophylactic qualities. That said, it might be time for me to stop wandering around in pharmaceutical metaphors and actually describe some of this movie's particularities. For starters, the story is a collection of insane contrivances, the sort which only make sense when filtered through the prism of Hollywood escapism.
Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a Chicago Transit Authority worker who's got a helpless crush on a handsome man that has never paid even the slightest attention to her. On Christmas Day, the beautiful stranger finds himself in a dangerous predicament and Lucy saves his life. Through a series of improbable hijinks, our heroine ends up as the fake fiancée to a comatose man whose family welcomes her with open arms, smiling faces and industrial doses of comforting kookiness. She also finds love, not with the previous object of her desires, but his brother.
Well, sort of.
Part of the delightful nature of this whole affair is how the true love story at the center of the narrative isn't one forged between passionate lovers. While You Were Sleeping works best as a Christmas themed story of loneliness overcome, the quest of a woman to find a family that needs her as much as she needs them, who loves her. Bullock might have great chemistry with Bill Pullman, but her success in the role hinges on her ability to be both an outsider to the family as well as someone who compliments their existing dynamic.
It's easy to imagine this going astray with a different performer at the helm. This story is problematic, to say the least, and Lucy's actions transcend the ridiculous to come very close to genuine insidiousness. Though, when we're watching Bullock falling in love, such concerns seem anodyne if not altogether inexistent. Her smile is luminous and her open expressions radiate the sort of earnestness usually reserved for dewy-eyed cartoons. In other words, she makes it work as only a movie star can.
She's helped along the way by a stellar supporting cast and a surprisingly sophisticated lensing. Regarding the other actors, Glynis Johns is the first among equals as a dotty doting grandmother whose air-headedness is as hilarious as it is endearing. In matters of cinematography, Phedon Papamichael shoots Chicago like an especially beautiful moving postcard. I've never seen the Windy City looking so gorgeous and welcoming, like the perfect setting for romantic misadventures and cheery winter celebrations. To spend a Christmas in Chicago is surely one of those movie-inspired fantasies I’d add to my Bucket List if I had one.
Watching Sandra Bullock smile while beautifully lit by Papamichel is like being hugged in a loving embrace that's warm and smells like cinnamon and holidays and feels like movie magic. I'd go so far as to say I'd prefer the actress had won her Oscar for this lighthearted comedy rather than for The Blind Side. However, that's a matter to be explored at a later date.
Other episodes of this series:
M (31) by Mark Brinkerhoff
Rear Window (54) by Chris Feil
Z (69) by Mark Brinkherhoff
Cabaret (72) by Ben Miller
Enter the Dragon (73) by Cláudio Alves
The Parallax View / Three Days of the Condor (74/75) by Lynn Lee
Farewell, My Concubine (93) by Tim Brayton
Memories of Murder/The Host (03/06) by Cláudio Alves
Reader Comments (27)
Peak Sunny Sandra.A gifted comedienne who won the Oscar for the wrong film but it happens,more people will revisit this film than TBS.
Completely agree with this review. Sandra has star power that can make WYWS, a movie with a plot that would have been considered schmaltzy even in the 1940s, work. A year or so before this movie came out and became a big hit, Sandra gave an extremely earnest, really sweet supporting performance in The Thing Called Love. IMO, she acted circles around Samantha Mathis and River Phoenix in that movie. I am convinced some producer saw that movie and cast her in WYWS.
Wasn't it the 1 -2 punch of Speed & Demolition Man that landed her the role,just imagine it with Demi Moore who dropped out.If I remember it was offered to Marisa Tomei,Elizabeth Perkins and Bridget Fonda after Demi before Sandra became a buzzed about actress and she was offered it.
I love your concept of a cinematic hug. Haven’t seen WYWS (yet), but I recently saw Under the Tuscan Sun for the first time, and I think that could also qualify. I was totally enamored by it.
Thanks for the piece!
We are really starved for a good romantic comedy. Who's going to give it to us?
Effortlessly, Sandra Bullock is cute here. This movie would be perfect if they swapped the brothers. I mean putting one actor in the role of the other. 😉
Raul I believe if Julia Roberst did one like Something's Gotta Give with a big male co star Cruise perhaps it could be huge.
WYWS is one of my all time favorite romantic comedies. I watch it every Christmas. It's like a fluffy, warm blanket to wrap yourself up in and forget every crappy thing about life. I just love it.
It's such a lovely film. Yes, it's a feel-good movie but you are at least given characters you care about as I love that family and I love how the film ended.
What other movies are in your list of antidepressants? All of us could use some right now.
Someone -- These are a a few that always make me smile and feel better:
Buster Keaton’s shorts (all of them)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Good Morning (1959)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Sister Act (1992)
Little Women (1994)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Sense & Sensibility (1995)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Pride (2014)
Love your take on this delightful bit of highly enjoyable fluff. I completely agree that while there is certainly worth in heavy duty cinema that explores the human condition and enriches the viewer you just can't get by on a steady diet of that. Sometimes you just want to relax and be charmed or enchanted and this does that.
Glad you made mention of the great Glynis Johns who is flawless. I like Bill Pullman but his family members are the ones who make the story work along with Bullock as well as the wry Jason Bernard as her boss.
I haven't watched this in a while and you've inspired me to catch up with it again soon. Thanks!
Sandra Bullock just sparkles in this, and the supporting cast is charming as well. And after having spent four winters in Chicago, I really appreciated all the shots of people slipping on the ice.
This is such a lovely movie. It could be dissected to pieces as a perfect romantic comedy.
@someone - I second the recommendations you already have from @Claudio Alves (sorry, I can't get my diacritical marks to work on this keyboard), but will add "Broadcast News" (1987), "Ball of Fire" (1941), "Pillow Talk" (1959), "About Time" (2013).
But for me, what really works as an antidepressant is a movie that deals with difficult situations, goes through a really dark things, makes you cry poignant tears, and ends up hopeful. So, of course, I'm recommending Douglas Sirk movies if you're not familiar.
Cláudio, I've never seen this film, but I like both Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman (and Glynis Johns!) and your review makes me want to see this.
And I really want a great new romantic comedy as well.
I went to see this movie with a friend of mine. Because I lived in a small town, we had to drive almost an hour to Colonial Heights, but I had loved Speed so much - and specifically Sandra Bullock in that movie - that it was a no-brainer.
And then we watched the movie. Beyond the perfection of the whole movie, with all its turns and craziness, my biggest memory is when the movie ended, and I was crying like a child. My friend was also bawling, and she looked at me and said, "One day that's going to happen for both of us too."
To this day, I have two movie posters hanging over the headpost of my bed: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and While You Were Sleeping.
made me delighted with your information,thanks from Typhoon TV APK
CineHub's Ui is straightforward and simple to utilize. You can rapidly swipe through various indexes and discover the films by their name, appraisals, and year of delivery. No in-application buy or enrollment measure is required CineHub Download. Additionally, there is no compelling reason to root or escape your gadget to utilize this ap. Basic, introduce the application, and make the most of your number one shows.
It would be ideal if you sit tight for the APK document to download. On fruitful download, explore to the download area TVTap and tap on the APK document to start the establishment cycle. Give the necessary consents and sit tight for the establishment cycle to wrap up.
Passing by the expressions of the engineer, Syncler wo exclude any scrubbers. This will keep the application from getting suddenly closed Syncler App on FireStick down like TVZion. In any case, this won't imply that you won't have the option to stream any current substance present in your Debrid Cloud.
Top notch zipper and 2 snappy zipper compartment infront 2 huge compartment for PC and other having a place. In the event that movement nerd and searching for an open PC rucksack under rs. 1000 than it very well may be your best option.
Office Stuffs
Description: Are you looking for the best office products and supplies? We are at office stuffs website listed all the items at one place.
The looming variant of the Summer Olympics is intended to happen from 24th July to 10th August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Olympics 2021 Live Stream Not simply the Summer Olympics is the most followed event across the globe yet its underlying capacity is furthermore maybe the most-watched administrations in world events. 2021 Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony Date, Time and Venue.
Another advantage is that when you are a picture taker, you can show your abilities on material at a more terrific scope Cheap Canvas Prints without spending excessively. Numerous sizes to look over You will have the choice to pick a size that will glance normal in your lounge room.
Organic cotton material wicks away moisture and ventilates cool air, which makes baby much less in all likelihood to wash in sweat or experience too hot. Its weave will also assist preserve warm temperature in the winter. The same, small gaps that circulate a breeze into the material may also help hold thermal insulation. The precise residences of cotton make it more handy to shop for toddler clothes for every season. You won’t should worry approximately buying two sorts of material for the winter or summer time, due to the fact organic cotton is appropriate for each island holidays and holiday snuggling.
Cinema HD Download
The precise residences of cotton make it more handy to shop for toddler clothes for every season. You won’t should worry approximately buying two sorts of material for the winter or summer time, due to the fact organic cotton is appropriate for each island holidays and holiday snuggling.
The precise residences of cotton make it more handy to shop for toddler clothes for every season. You won’t should worry approximately buying two sorts of material for the winter or summer time, due to the fact organic cotton is appropriate for each island holidays and holiday snuggling.